First Times and Formals
by Neuropsych
Summary: COMPLETE (add in Romance and angst) The first mission, and then taking Cassie to the Formal... how much excitement can one guy take in a couple of days? Rated for lanuage, of course, and for possible adult themes later on, and of course there's always the
1. 01

**First Times and Formals**

_Author's Note: This one starts right where Painful Separations lets off… (just so you know) Sam is in her 6th month of pregnancy and is definitely showing._

Disclaimer: I don't own all the regular characters, only those that I have created (Ian, Jaffer and Jack (the dog) in this case), and God knows I'm not making any money off this, or I wouldn't have to come back from my vacation. _Sigh_.

_That said… here we go!_

OOOOOOOOO

The people in the briefing room looked up as Jack and Ian walked into the room, and Hammond frowned.

"So _good_ of you to join us."

Ian had the grace to look apologetic, but Jack just walked over and sat down beside Sam, leaving the New Yorker to take the spot beside Teal'c, who nodded a greeting to him. They weren't late, everyone else was just early.

Sam gave Ian a welcoming smile, and he grinned at her.

"How's the hand?"

The grin faded into a scowl, and he once more looked down at his hand – which had a bandage on it.

"It's fine, Sam.

"I can't believe you tried to burn down my apartment before you'd even lived there two weeks…" Daniel said, shaking his head in amusement.

"It wasn't that big of a fire," Ian protested. "There was just a little grease on the-"

"Can you hold a weapon, Cadet?" Hammond interrupted.

Ian nodded, holding up his left hand to show the bandage.

"I shoot right-handed, General. I'm fine."

Like he'd miss the first mission, just because of a little burn?

Hammond nodded, "Good." He turned his attention to Daniel, who took his cue and stood up.

"The planet we're going to today is connoted as P93-X56," Daniel said, showing gate coordinates on a slide behind him and then another slide showing a planet that was lush and tropical, and caused Jack to scowl. More trees. _Lovely_. "There are no indications of life, but as you can see, it's jungle, and _that_ means that trees and brush can overrun ruins and any signs of civilization fairly quickly, so we're going to take a look around and see if we can find out who lived there – or see if anyone still does."

Jack watched Ian as Daniel gave his briefing. The cadet wasn't taking notes – of course, he didn't _need_ to with that memory of his – but he was paying close attention, and while he looked excited, he didn't look like he was going to pee his pants. That was good.

"Did the probe find any signs of Goa'uld activities?" Teal'c asked.

Daniel shook his head.

"As far as we can tell, it's deserted."

"But there's only one way to be sure," Jack said.

Daniel nodded.

"Well, get to it," Hammond said, trying to ignore the nervousness he, himself, felt. He didn't like sending a person out for the first time. It always made him worried – even when that person was going to be going with SG-1, who were the best when it came to coming back home intact. Not always in one piece, but alive, at least. And _that_ was what counted. "SG-1, you have a go. Get equipped, and be in the gate room in 15 minutes."

"Yes, Sir."

They all stood up and Hammond went to his office, leaving them alone to go prepare. Sam met Ian at the door, and hooked her arm through his.

"How do you feel? Excited?"

He smiled and nodded.

"A bit."

"Not nervous?"

"_Me_?"

He gave her a slightly injured look, and she smiled and released his arm.

"I'll meet you guys in the gate room."

Since the others weren't wearing BDUs, they'd have to change, and since Sam wasn't going, there was no point in her going to the locker room and waiting outside for them, only to follow them to supply, where they'd draw their equipment. Except their side arms, which Sam knew were hanging in their lockers. She'd just wait for them to come to her.

"We'll be there in a bit," Jack promised, touching her arm for the briefest of moments, and then heading down the hallway with Ian, Daniel, Teal'c and Jack (the dog).

Sam looked down at Jaffer, who had been with her all morning, and she sighed.

"They're going to be okay, right?"

Jaffer rumbled a growl deep in his chest and wagged his tail cheerfully. Of _course_ they were going to be okay! He was going with them! He'd bring them home just fine.

She reached down and slapped his shoulder, grateful that he was hanging out with her that morning instead of leaving her alone, and turned and headed for the gate room with Jaffer walking beside her.

OOOOO

It was almost exactly 15 minutes later when Jack and the rest of SG-1 walked in, fully equipped and ready to go. Hammond and Sam were standing at the bottom of the ramp waiting for them, and both were forced to admit that Ian looked like he was as cool as the other side of the pillow. Wearing a pack and a Kevlar vest, with his Glock in its holster at his side, and the P-90 hanging from the strap on his shoulder, he looked formidable and not at all nervous. Of course, with Teal'c and Jack (the dog) walking at his side, he looked even _more_ formidable, and add to it Jack and even Daniel, and there was as much protection there for him as Sam or Hammond could hope for.

Then Jaffer wuffled Sam's hand briefly and went over and joined Jack, adding even more weapons to the arsenal.

"Ready, Colonel?"

Jack nodded.

"Yes, Sir."

Hammond looked over at the control center and nodded, and the gate started dialing. Then the General turned to Ian.

"I don't need to tell you to do everything Colonel O'Neill tells you to?"

Ian shook his head.

"No, Sir."

"Good." Hammond stepped back, making room for SG-1 at the base of the ramp as the gate flared to life.

Sam bit her lower lip softly, trying to hide her nervousness, and Jack gave her his cockiest smile as he walked over to her to take his place by the ramp.

"Don't worry, Sam, we'll be fine," he murmured, just loud enough that she could hear it, but no one else. "We'll be back before you know it."

She nodded, and his smile turned from cocky to soft, as his eyes showed her the love he felt for her, even when he couldn't really say it aloud. She felt warmed by that look, and felt a little of her concern fade as she was wrapped up in it, and she was able to smile as the others walked past her, each of them giving her a smile of their own, as if they understood how she felt being left behind.

Ian was the last to walk by, and Sam couldn't help but smile. Jack's grin had been cocky, but Ian's was just as bad. As if he _knew_ he was bulletproof – despite the fact that he'd already been shown otherwise.

"Relax, Sam," Ian told her. "We're _just_ going through a wormhole to another planet with God knows what on the other side. What's the worst that-"

He was stopped by her putting her hand to his mouth, hushing him.

"Don't even _say_ that," Sam told him, smiling despite her concerns. "Every time someone asks that question, they always try to answer it."

Ian nodded, and gave her another quick grin, and then headed up the ramp to where Jack was waiting. A moment later they both stepped through and were gone.


	2. 02

Just like the probe had shown them, the first thing they saw was a lot of trees. And grass. And bushes. And pretty much anything else that you could think of that was plantlife and was green. It was lush and warm, and Jack was unimpressed.

"Great."

Ian looked over at him, wondering what there was not to like. It could have been worse, after all, it could have been raining or something. He looked up, remembering what Sam had said about asking what the worst that could happen, but the sky was a brilliant blue. It wasn't going to rain.

"All right," Jack said, drawing Ian's attention back to him. "Teal'c, go left. Daniel, you're going right flank. Ian, you stay close to me."

Daniel couldn't help but smile. Usually, _he_ was the one that Jack told to stay close to him. It was nice to not be the new guy, anymore.

"Daniel?"

He looked over at Jack.

"Yeah?"

"Don't wander off. Stay close."

Bah.

Jack (the dog) headed right with Teal'c, his nose alternating between in the air and sniffing the ground, smelling everything around him, his body tense and his tail wagging idly as he was assaulted with odors that were a lot different from the SGC.

Jaffer, too, was tense, but he hadn't gone anywhere. He was still right beside Jack, watching him and waiting to see what was wanted from him.

"You go with Daniel, little man," Jack said. If he was going to be with Ian, then Jaffer could keep an eye on Daniel for him.

The lab headed left, moving up to walk beside Daniel, watching for anything that might pose a danger to his charge – or to his Jack – and sniffing the air around him, while Jack and Ian stepped away from the now inactive gate.

The ground ahead of them wasn't a path, but it wasn't as overgrown as the other areas around them, so it kind of gave the impression of a small trail or something. Jack unslung his P-90, and looked over at Ian.

"Stay nearby, okay? And watch for anything out of the ordinary."

Ian nodded, and moved just a little to Jack's right; one hand on the butt of his Glock as he and Jack started off into what could only be called the jungle.

"How do you know what direction to go?" He asked after a few minutes of walking.

Jack shrugged.

"We just head away from the gate in the direction we're facing when we emerge from it. I've rarely seen anyone actually have their Stargate in the middle of their village or town, and usually it's a fair walk away."

He looked around, listening for any call from Daniel or Teal'c, or barking that would indicate something was up. He didn't hear either.

"With a place so overgrown, though, chances are it's like Daniel said; either no one ever lived here or the people are long gone. He's just hoping to find a trace of them – in case it was the Ancients, or someone equally interesting."

Ian nodded, and the two of them noticed that what little cleared area they'd had on their 'path' was now gone, and they, too, were walking through undergrowth that was as wild as anything else around them. Overhead, birds called to each other, or down at the intruders, warning them to stay away from their nests or warning the others of their kind to stay away from the intruders. Trees loomed over them, blocking out the more intense rays of the sun. Which would have been nice if not for the fact that Ian pretty much expected a bird to crap on him any minute.

It was kind of like he expected it would be in some South American jungle. And he'd never wanted to visit South America.

"Watch where you're stepping, City Boy." Jack warned him, pointing to a pile of something on the ground that was crawling with insects. They looked a little like ants, but had brightly colored wings – although none of them were flying. Ian had been about to step into the pile – and who knew what that would have done?

"Thanks."

He moved around it, and Jack watched because like a puppy who was starting to get the nerve to stray away from his mother, Ian was getting just a little further away from Jack with each step.

The problem with watching Ian, however, was that Jack wasn't watching where he was going. He probably would have seen the trap if he'd been looking for one – it wasn't in plain sight, but it was a simple snare, and those were fairly easy to see if you knew what you were looking for. He wasn't watching, though, and he didn't see it. He tripped the snare, and an instant later a rope was tightening around his ankle and a tree was snapping upwards off to the right – snapping right against Ian, who was knocked to the side as a branch slapped him away on its way up. He tumbled to the ground, just barely missing yet another pile of the ant-like insects, even as Jack was jerked up off the ground, the rope around his ankle holding fast and tight, dangling him upside down.

"Fucking Sonofabitch..."

Jack looked over at Ian's curse, all the blood rushing to his head, and he saw Ian getting to his feet, his hand clutching his side.

"You okay?"

The cadet nodded, walking over and looking up at Jack, who was dangling about 8 feet above him.

"Are you?"

"Yeah. Soon as I figure out how to get dow-"

The rope snapped, and Jack suddenly dropped, landing with a thud in the soft grass.

"Well, that was pleasant…" Jack muttered. At least he hadn't landed on his head.

Ian came over and knelt down at Jack's feet.

"Are you all right?"

Jack nodded, but his sharp eyes didn't miss the tear in Ian's uniform.

"You?"

"Aside from being clobbered by the tree, I'm fine." He examined the rope that was still snugly wrapped around Jack's booted ankle, and gave it an experimental tug. "It won't come off."

"Cut it off." Jack told him, reaching for his knife – which he'd landed on (and that hadn't been a pleasant feeling).

Ian nodded and pulled his knife before Jack could get to his, slicing easily through the rope and freeing it from Jack's leg just as Jaffer and Daniel came crashing through the undergrowth near by.

"You okay?" Daniel asked, coming over to stand over Jack, while Jaffer whuffled him, urgently, checking him to make sure he hadn't taken any injury.

"Yeah. Help me up."

Daniel reached down and pulled Jack to his feet.

"What happened?"

"It was a snare," Jack said, making sure everything was still in one piece, although he ached from the drop, nothing was injured.

"This rope looks pretty old," Ian said, standing up as well, still holding the rope in his hand. It was covered in mold or something, and from the frayed end it didn't take Davy Crockett to figure out that the rope had broken – which was why Jack had been dropped.

He handed it to Daniel, while Jack stepped up to him and moved his arm away from his side, looking at the tear in his shirt. He'd thought he'd seen a trace of blood when he'd looked the first time, and a second look proved him right.

Ian scowled, but he didn't move while Jack pulled his shirt out of his pants and raised it, revealing a nasty welt where the tree branch had hit him that was dribbling blood. It wasn't serious, but it was definitely bleeding.

"Ouch. Where did you get that?" Daniel asked, looking at it.

"Jack's tree."

"Ah." Daniel reached for his pack, intending to pull out the first aid kit. It wasn't serious, but in the wooded area like this, it would need to be covered to avoid getting it dirty.

"O'Neill."

They all four looked over as Teal'c came out of the trees to their left with Jack jumping over a fallen log to come over and join them.

"I found something you should see."


	3. 03

_Author's note: Daniel will always be the one who Jack thinks needs extra watching! Not only because he tends to get hurt, but he wanders off, and he's not military.. no matter how long he's been on the team, he'll be told to stay close, I imagine. Also, due to my vacation being so relaxing, I am now paying for that by being swamped at work, so I'll probably be a little slow on the updates for the next couple of days. Sorry!_

OOOOOOOOO

It wasn't all that far from their position – although Teal'c had wandered a fair distance from the others, following a similar looking path to the one that Jack and Ian had been following until theirs had overgrown.

They found themselves on the same path, Jack walking in the rear of the group as they walked, so that he could watch Ian and make sure that tree hadn't hurt him more than he was letting on. The cadet was walking fine, though – Jack had a slight limp from being pulled off his feet by one leg – and would occasionally rub his side as if it bothered him, but it was quite a welt he had, so Jack would have been surprised if it didn't bother him. As long as it didn't hurt him so badly that he couldn't handle it. He'd have Janet take a look at him when they got back.

"It's right over here," Teal'c said from the front where he and Jack (the dog) were leading the way.

'It' turned out to be a stone building of some sort. A very low building in the middle of a large group of trees that sheltered it so completely it would have been easy to miss. Actually, _Teal'c_ hadn't found it, Jack had – otherwise it might have gone undiscovered, since Teal'c had been looking in the other direction.

"What is it?" Jack asked as they all gathered around.

The walls were crumbling, but there were writings of some sort on the front of the one next to the 'door'. Or the opening that could have been a door, anyways.

"A house?" Ian guessed, looking over at Daniel. He was the expert on these things, right?

Daniel was looking in the doorway, which was only about five feet high. Whoever had lived there – if it was, indeed, a house – hadn't been very tall.

"It could be a house…" he said, shrugging. He wasn't quite willing to make it a statement of fact, though, since he didn't have much evidence to prove things one way or the other. He took his flashlight out of its pocket, and shined it into the building, lighting up the interior a little. It was one room, about 12 feet by 30 feet, and it appeared to be empty, save for a pile of rubble in the middle of the floor – which looked to have originally been stone, but now had grass and brush growing up between the cracks. "I don't think so, though…"

"It doesn't look like anyplace _I'd_ want to live," Ian said, shining his own flashlight inside, but not going anywhere near the door. Which was good, because Jack didn't want him to just go walking into strange buildings.

"What does this say on the wall here?" Jack asked, pointing at the writing, that didn't look like anything to him – although he was fairly certain it wasn't Egyptian. They weren't pictures, anyways; it looked kind of like Japanese or Chinese – an Asiatic language. Or maybe it was Ancient gobbledygook.

Daniel pulled his head from the doorway and looked at the symbols on the wall. They were hard to read and faded – crumbling as the wall they were chiseled on crumbled as well.

"It _looks_ familiar," Daniel said, frowning. "I'm not… sure exactly what…"

Ian hadn't been all that interested in the writing on the door, or what it might have said. And he wasn't all that interested in the inside of the building, because the building was – as near as he could tell – empty. It sort of looked familiar, but only a little.

Curious, he walked around the side of the low slung building, looking at the structure and the building style, but whatever it was that was so familiar about it eluded him, because he was as baffled as Daniel was.

"You shouldn't go far."

He turned and saw Teal'c and Jack (the dog) standing close behind him – the Jaffa had followed Ian to make sure he didn't manage to get into any trouble, and Ian appreciated the big guy's concerns.

"I'm not, Teal'c," he promised. "I just wanted to see if there was a back door or something a little more interesting back here."

Teal'c looked at the building.

"There is not."

"No."

"Hey! Where'd you guys go?"

They both heard Jack's worried call, and a moment later Jaffer came barreling around the side of the building, obviously sent to look for them.

Ian leaned down and rubbed the lab's shoulder.

"We're fine."

But they'd better get back to the others, before Jack came looking for him this time. With Teal'c right beside him, he headed around the building – going the opposite direction he'd come from so he could finish walking around the thing – and Jaffer bolted off ahead of him, Jack (the dog) right beside him.

On the side of the building they found more writings, but these were even harder to read than the ones on the doorway. He tripped over a tree root, but managed to catch himself before he fell, and scowled as he looked up.

"Trees suck…"

Teal'c didn't answer him, but he had heard similar sentiments from O'Neill, so he was hardly surprised to hear Ian uttering them as well.

"What did you find back there?" Jack asked as they rounded the building and came back into sight. Jack and Daniel were both still looking at the tablet of writing in the front of the building.

"Nothing, O'Neill. There is no sign of whoever might have lived here."

"If I copy down these symbols," Daniel said, pulling a notebook from his pack, "I might be able to find something about them in some online reference texts." He frowned, "They really do look familiar, I'm just not sure where I've seen them before."

"Laosi."

They all looked at Ian, who hadn't even realized he'd spoken.

"What?"

The cadet shrugged.

"You have a book in your apartment on ancient Asiatic religions, Daniel…" he said. "It kind of looks like some of the symbols I saw when I was looking through it – but not exactly the same."

Daniel looked back over at the engraved images, frowning even more.

"You might be right…"

"So write them down, Daniel," Jack said, shrugging. "We'll keep looking and see if we find any more of these buildings – or some other kind of building – and then we'll go home, and you can look them up in your little books – or on the internet. Whatever."

Daniel nodded, and pulled out a pen.

"This won't take long," he said, looking up at Jack. "If you want to go ahead and look around while I'm doing it, I'll be right here if you find anything."

Jack shrugged, looking at Teal'c and then Ian.

"You won't wander off?"

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"No. I'll stay right here."

"And you won't be distracted by something and _wander off_…?"

"No."

"Fine." Jack slung his P-90 strap over his shoulder and stood up. "Keep in contact with us, and if you find anything, give us a call."

"I will, Jack."

"Let's go."

Ian fell into step on Jack's left, while Teal'c took the right.

"Watch where you're going, guys," Jack warned them. "These trees are devious…"


	4. 04

Daniel didn't even look up as they left. He was already involved in his copying, because you had to _absolutely_ make sure that the copy was exactly right – otherwise the translations could be way off. Like the time he'd thought a clay tablet written in ancient Mesopotamian had said that the way to the pure life was through good hair instead of through good works. That one had thrown him for quite a while until he'd actually gone back to the site and rechecked his work. After that he was always careful to make sure he copied right the first time. And then he double-checked it.

It didn't take him long to finish, though, even with his double-checking. Less than half an hour. He carefully tucked his notebook back into his pack, and stood up, stretching and looking around. Jack and the others were probably pretty close to being done with their search, and he wondered if he should go find them. _Looking_ for Jack wasn't the same as wandering off, he reasoned. Wandering off meant going somewhere without a particular goal in mind, and this just wasn't the case just then. He knew where he was going, after all. He was going to find Jack.

With that firmly in his mind, he shouldered his pack and headed out the same direction the others had taken. The only problem with that was that he hadn't actually been _watching_ the direction they were going.

OOOOOOOO

Jack sighed, and looked around, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Well, Campers… I'm tired of looking for rocks. Let's go get Daniel and head home."

Ian couldn't help but agree, even though he had hoped to find more of the little buildings. It just didn't make sense that there would only be one structure in the area like that. But they'd left the shelter of the trees, passing to the side of a weird bog, and had been out in the direct rays of the sun long enough that he was sweaty and hot – and the sweat was stinging the welt on his side – although he hadn't complained about it, since he didn't want Jack to make a big deal of it.

"Perhaps if we went back in a different direction than we came, we might have the opportunity to explore further as we walk…" Teal'c said. The Jaffa didn't look sweaty at all, Ian noticed. He probably _liked_ it warm like this. Or maybe he just didn't sweat quite as easily as humans did.

"We can do that," Jack said, shrugging. As long as they didn't go too far out of the way. He didn't want to take any longer than necessary, since he really didn't trust that Daniel wouldn't find something to distract him if left alone too long. "I don't want to cross that swamp area we saw, so let's go that way," he said, pointing off to their left.

Not only did he not like the idea of swamp crap on his boots, but he hated the thought of washing the stuff out of Jaffer's thick fur.

The others nodded, and they all headed back, the two labs springing forward to take the lead now that they had a direction to go.

OOOOO

"_Jack_!"

Daniel called Jack's name for about the twentieth time, and sighed, wiping his forehead while he waited for a response. Again. And again there wasn't one.

"Well… great…" He muttered, putting his hat back on to beat the heat, even though he was in the shade of one of the trees. "They must be lost." Jack was _always_ getting lost, Daniel noticed.

He went for his last resort, figuring that if O'Neill was lost, he'd at least make sure they were okay. Keying the mic on his radio, he started back the way he'd come, back towards the swampy area he'd just veered around.

"Jack?"

There was only a moment's hesitation before there was a reply.

"Yeah, Daniel. We're on our way back right now. Stay put and we'll be right there."

_Um_… right…

Daniel looked around him, and sighed again, then spoke into the radio once more.

"Yeah… about that…"

There was another hesitation, and he could imagine the look that was on Jack's face just then; a sort of cross between annoyance and concern – with a big scowl for good measure.

"Please tell me you didn't wander off?"

"I _didn't_ wander off," Daniel said.

"Good."

"I came looking for you."

"Daniel…"

Now it was a sort of resigned sound, and he knew the scowl would still be there, but the irritation would be gone.

"I'm not in any _trouble_ or anything," Daniel said quickly. "I just thought you guys might be lost…"

"No, we're _not_ lost, Daniel," Jack told him. "Where are you?"

"Standing by a tree."

"Daniel-"

"Near a swamp."

"Stay where you are." Jack's voice was still tense, but not worried. Daniel knew Jack wasn't worried about finding him – not with Jaffer and Jack there to track him down – but he also knew that Jack was probably coming up with a million things that could happen while they were looking for him. Things that most likely weren't going to happen. Jack tended to worry too much, sometimes, Daniel thought.

"I'll be right here," Daniel promised, looking around for a good place to sit while he was waiting.

"We'll be right there. O'Neill out."

OOOOOOOOO

"Well, so much for going _right_ home…"

Ian looked over, wondering why Jack wasn't angrier than he was. He was pretty sure if _he'd_ been the one to get lost, Jack would have chewed him a new one. But Jack was acting like this happened frequently. Then he remembered that Jack had warned Daniel twice not to wander off before they'd left and decided that maybe it did happen a lot. Which made him wonder why Jack had left Daniel there in the first place – and he decided it was because Jack hadn't wanted to stick around and be bored watching while Daniel made his copies.

"The dogs should be able to find him, shouldn't they?" Ian asked.

Jack nodded, and turned back towards the swamp area that he'd been hoping to avoid.

"They always do."


	5. 05

"Have I mentioned just how much I _hate_ swampy land?"

"More than once, O'Neill."

"Just checking."

Ian hid his grin, although _he_ had decided he didn't like swampy land any more than Jack did. Because of the direction they'd decided to go to get back to camp before Daniel had called them, they were on the wrong side of the bog from the direction that both Jack (the dog) and Jaffer were telling them they needed to go. And neither dog was willing to go around. They didn't care about getting mud and ooze on their hides, and didn't seem to care that Jack, Teal'c and Ian were slipping and sliding their way through the crap that the dogs were slogging through happily.

The humans had stopped just long enough to tie the legs of their pants tightly around their boots, in case the water and muck came above their boots, and then had followed the dogs as well as they could, sometimes with only Jack's cheerful barking to tell them which direction they were supposed to be going.

"It could be worse," Ian said from the back of the group, where Jack had put him, telling him to walk where he and Teal'c walked.

Jack turned around, giving the cadet a scowl.

"Yeah? How?"

Just then Teal'c tripped over something unseen in the ankle deep muddy water and fell face first into it, just managing to catch himself before he lost his staff weapon and pack.

Jack stopped and offered him a hand up, but the Jaffa was already getting to his feet, looking at Ian and scowling.

"I recall Major O'Neill warning you to refrain from using that comment," he said in his deep gravelly voice – and looking ready to pop Ian for even _thinking_ it.

"Sorry, Teal'c."

Jack smiled – a grin that immediately disappeared when Teal'c turned towards him – and looked Teal'c over.

"You okay?"

"Indeed."

"You look…"

"Messy," Ian finished.

Teal'c didn't scowl, but it was obvious he didn't find it nearly as amusing as the other two did. He gathered as much of his dignity as he could, and started walking again. And a moment later Ian tripped over the exact same thing under the water, and fell face first, nowhere near as quick when it came to catching himself.

"Mother _fucker_…"

He sputtered when he pulled his face out of the muck – which was luckily more _water_ than mud, although it reeked, and he scowled at the look of amusement on Teal'c's face as he regained his feet, pulling his Glock out to make sure there wasn't water in the barrel. There _was_, which meant he was going to end up spending an hour cleaning the bastard that evening so it didn't rust.

"You alright?" Jack asked him as Teal'c reached over and rearranged his pack before it slid off over his head.

"Yeah. Just wetter than shit."

And wishing he'd tucked his shirt back in when Jack had pulled it out to look at his side, because now he was drenched, and he had that shit all over his skin. He hoped it was just regular mud with nothing in it.

Jack keyed his radio.

"Daniel?"

The response was immediate.

"Yes?"

"You haven't wandered off, have you?"

"No. I'm still sitting by the same tree…"

"And the same bog?"

"Yes."

"We'll be there shortly. Listen for Jack."

"Okay."

Jack looked at the sky. According to his watch it was early afternoon in Colorado, but here it was starting to get late, and the last thing he wanted was to wander through the swamp in the dark.

"Let's pick up the pace and see if we can't catch up with the dogs," he told Ian and Teal'c. "I want to get out of here…"

They didn't argue with that.

OOOOOOOO

Just like Jack had said, Daniel heard the barking long before he saw either dog. As soon as he heard the first barks, though, he knew which direction to look, and sure enough, less than five minutes later he was swarmed over by Jaffer and Jack – both of which were covered in mud and smelled terrible. And didn't seem to care at all that he didn't really want them all over him. Before Jack and the others appeared, Daniel was smeared with goo as well, a byproduct of the dogs rubbing all over him, eager for attention and praise for finding him.

But Daniel looked positively clean compared to the other three.

All three of them had taken falls eventually, and Ian and Jack more than Teal'c because of the Jaffa's superior reflexes. He'd managed to catch himself more often than not, and Ian was soaked to the skin and shivering, even though the day was still relatively balmy. Jack was just as wet, and scowling something fierce when they walked up to Daniel.

"What happened to you guys?" Daniel asked.

Jack didn't answer. He just walked past Daniel on the way towards the gate – which if memory served, and it usually did in these cases – was only an hour or so from where they were. And through solid ground.

Ian stopped long enough to wait for Daniel, since he hadn't been told he wasn't on rear guard still, and Daniel shook his head.

"You _look_ terrible."

"Yeah… well…"

He _felt_ like a drowned rat, so there wasn't much he could say to that.

Instead of walking ahead of him, Daniel fell into step beside him, but under the best of circumstances Ian wasn't big on small talk, and at the moment he was feeling just a little worse for wear. If this was how every mission went for SG-1, then he was glad he was only going to be on the team for a few months – maybe a little longer. He wasn't sure he could survive much more than that.

It was just a little over an hour later when the Stargate came into view, with the sun sinking in the sky to their right and the day getting almost chilly – especially in wet clothes, which were still damp even after an hour. Ian could have cheered when Teal'c started dialing.


	6. 06

Sam hadn't been far from the embarkation room all day. True, she had plenty of things in her lab that she could be working on, and there were several experiments that were time sensitive that needed to be taken care of, but instead she found herself running an absolutely unnecessary analysis on the computer systems in the control room.

Not that she was worried, she kept telling herself, she just needed to do these computer checks and had been putting them off for too long. Yeah, right. Hammond seemed to understand, though, and he didn't say anything when he saw that she was running a check of the same system she'd just finished.

When SG-1 had been gone an hour or so with no emergency activation of the gate, Sam started to relax a little. Not a lot – she wouldn't relax completely until they were home – but if nothing bad happened in the first hour, then at least it meant that the weather conditions weren't a factor in anything bad, which might have cut the mission short. Of course, there were always other factors, but Sam wasn't going to allow herself to dwell on them, knowing that if she did, she'd end up driving herself mad in record time.

When lunch time came around, she was going to work through it – she was actually involved with a tricky diagnostic – but Janet Fraiser came by and bullied her into going to the commissary and grabbing a bite to eat with her, telling her that if she didn't, she'd tell Jack that she didn't – which they both knew would cause him to get a mournful, worried expression on his face and make Sam feel guilty.

Janet watched her friend carefully as they ate, watching for signs that she was taxing herself by worrying too much, but she seemed to be doing okay. Well aware of the scrutiny, Sam decided to turn the tables a bit, and distract Janet.

"So is Cassie getting excited?"

Janet scowled; this wasn't what she wanted to discuss. Not over lunch, and not over dinner. She and her daughter had different ideas about who should be taking her to the Formal – and Cassie didn't seem to care what her mother thought, lately. Something Janet had known was going to come, eventually, but had hoped it wouldn't come until she was over 30.

"It's all she's talking about," she said, ignoring Sam's amused smile at her annoyance. "Ian this and Ian that, and I hope my dress doesn't make my butt look big…"

"He's a good kid, Janet."

"She's too good for him."

Of course, Janet didn't think much of any of the guys Cassie had ever dated – and there hadn't been many, thanks to Jack, who hadn't thought much of any of them either.

"She doesn't seem to think so."

"She's too young to think past how good looking he is."

"He's a sweetheart."

"He's a teenaged male."

Sam smiled.

"Meaning…?"

She scowled again, and brandished her spoon at Sam.

"Meaning he's all hormones and testosterone."

Sam's smile broadened.

"I hate to tell you this, Janet, but I do feel the need to point out that Cassie is far more infatuated with Ian than he is with her. You remember what he said-"

"He's just playing hard to get."

The conversation had gone completely downhill from there. Janet was in protective mother mode, and there wasn't anything Sam could say about Ian that would make the doctor feel better about the dance the next evening. Not that she didn't try.

When they'd finished eating, Sam went back to the control room to finish her diagnostics, and Janet went back to the infirmary, still moody.

OOOOOOOOO

The alarms went off about 3 PM, and Sam's head popped up from the keyboard she had been calibrating, immediately. She looked at the gate, which was dialing in, and then at the Sergeant sitting at the console next to her.

He looked over, knowing what she was going to ask before she could, and nodded.

"It's SG-1's code."

Sam stood up and joined the group of Marines that were heading for the gate room – just in case they were needed to repel an invader, and heard Hammond coming over and asking who it was and ordering the iris opened when he found out.

She made it into the embarkation room at the same time the gate flared to life, and she held her breath, her fingers crossed without even realizing it. A moment later, Ian emerged, with Jack (the dog) right at his side. Both of them were walking fine – although they looked like they'd been rolling in the mud, and who knew what else – and Ian looked tired, although when he saw her standing there at the bottom of the ramp, he managed a smile that reached his dark eyes and lit his dirty face.

Before she could say anything, Daniel and Teal'c both emerged and a moment later Jack and Jaffer came through, all of them looking just as dirty and bedraggled as Ian and Jack had – except Daniel, who didn't look quite so bad. He looked smeared, while the others just looked… drenched.

Jaffer trotted cheerfully over to Sam, who bent to greet him, but frowned and tried to find a place where he wasn't mucky to touch him. The black hide was coated with drying mud and goop, and he stunk.

"What have you guys been doing?" She asked, looking at Jack as he came down the ramp. He looked slightly annoyed, and a little tired, too. Daniel didn't look tired, and Teal'c never looked tired, and it would take more than whatever they'd been doing to wear out either of the dogs, so Sam was curious if Jack and Ian had managed to get themselves into some kind of trouble.

"Romping through a swamp looking for Daniel," Jack told her, resisting the urge to hug her tight and ease the worried look out of her eyes – although he could see she didn't look nearly as worried as she had when he'd emerged from the gate.

"I wasn't lost," Daniel objected.

That explained why they looked dirtier than he did, Sam decided. And why Jack looked annoyed. And why all of them smelled so awful.

"How did it go, Colonel?" Hammond asked, coming over to them. He'd caught the end of the conversation, so he didn't have to ask why they were so dirty, and Sam could see him wrinkling his nose at the smell in the room, but what he really wanted to know about was how the Cadet had done on his first mission.

"We found a little house-"

"We don't know that it's a house," Daniel interrupted. "It probably isn't, since we only found one."

"-with some writing on it that Daniel copied down so he could try to translate it," Jack finished. "We'll probably need to go back tomorrow and finish checking it out…" From his expression, he wasn't looking forward to that.

"No injuries?" Hammond asked, looking at the group. They all looked fairly hale.

"Ian was hit with a branch and managed to get cut," Jack said. "But aside from that, nope."

Hammond looked at Ian, but the cadet obviously hadn't taken a debilitating injury, so he wasn't as worried as he might have been.

"Get cleaned up, and then go to the infirmary and get checked out," Hammond ordered. He looked down at Jack and Jaffer – who were actually dripping water and who knew what onto the floor. "All of you. We'll debrief when you're ready." Meaning he wasn't sure how long it would take them to clean up – and get the dogs cleaned up, and was telling them to take their time.

"Yes, Sir."

Hammond left, and Jack turned to Sam.

"Walk with us?"

She smiled and shook her head. Now that she knew they were safe and sound, she could wait until they were clean and less stinky.

"I'll meet you in the infirmary."


	7. 07

Author's Note: Nope, Ian doesn't know where Cassie's really from. As a matter of fact, given his distaste for small talk, he probably doesn't even know she's from Toronto. :)

OOOOOOOOOO

"Ouch."

While he wasn't normally one to check guys out in the locker room, Jack had watched as Ian took his shirt off, because he'd wanted another look at that cut on his side – one that he'd forgotten about, really, until Hammond had asked. When Ian pulled his shirt off, he revealed a belly and chest that was just as dirty as the rest of him, and under that swamp grime was a beautiful bruise about the same size as the welt and spreading outward from the cut, which was just along his lower ribs.

Ian looked down at himself, too, but he didn't look as impressed. He'd had worse. Christ, he'd been shot for that matter. Nothing would ever hurt as much as that had. And it was on his side, so it wouldn't show.

Daniel came over and took a look, already wrapped in just a towel. He was hoping to get his shower done and out of the way before the dogs were bathed – which usually happened in conjunction with Jack and Teal'c showering, since it was pretty convenient to wash a squirming dog when you were already naked and unconcerned about getting soap and water smeared or splashed on you. Not that he didn't want to help, but he wanted to get started on looking through those copies he'd made, and see if he could get anything ready for the debriefing – since Hammond was sure to ask if he knew what the building was.

"Well, that's a pretty one," he said, looking from Ian to Jack. "What would you say…? A 6?"

Jack frowned.

"I don't know, Daniel… it's good-sized and the color is already deepening to a lovely shade of dark purple… Maybe a six point five."

Ian scowled. This was Jack's fault; after all, _he_ was the one who antagonized the tree in the first place, by putting his foot in the snare.

Jack wasn't at all concerned by the scowl. Having had their fun, he stood up to finish undressing – he had a very goopy dog to wash, after all.

"You'd better wash that carefully when you shower, Ian," he told him. "Otherwise Fraiser will be pulling out all the really painful anti-biotic creams and ointments to get it cleaned out for you."

Which was all he needed, Ian though glumly as he undressed and headed for the shower. She already wanted his hide for deciding to take Cassie to the dance; he'd try to do his best not to give her her teaspoon of flesh, as well.

OOOOOOOOO

Janet looked up from her conversation with Sam when she heard the disturbance at the door to her infirmary. Just in time to see Jaffer come trotting in like he owned the place, and make a beeline for Sam, who smiled and knelt down, more than willing to give him some serious loving now that he was clean – although he was still pretty damp. The smell of strawberries permeated the air as the black lab whuffled her happily, making sure that she hadn't taken any harm while he'd been gone.

"Cadet Brooks was the one hurt?" Janet asked, as Jack and the others came over to join them – all of them still showing evidence of their own showers, but none of them with any outward sign of injury. They didn't even look as tired as they had, since the showers had been refreshing – as showers normally are when you're tired.

"He got hit with a tree branch and cut his side," Jack said, giving Sam an apologetic look as he said it. He was supposed to have kept him out of trouble, after all. Not that he'd been able to do much, hanging upside down as he had been at the time.

"It's nothing," Ian said. "You don't need to worry about it."

Which of course was the wrong thing to say to a doctor in her own infirmary. Especially one of Janet's caliber.

"You let _me_ decided what I need to worry about, Cadet," she told him, gesturing for him to sit on the closest examination table. She waved over a few other medics, who had already been ready for the rest of SG-1, and Jack, Teal'c and Daniel went off, leaving Janet with Ian and Sam.

Fraiser looked over at Sam, and frowned when she saw the concerned look in her friend's expression.

"I'm not going to eat him, Sam," she told her, waving her away. "Go check on Jack."

Sam smiled, and gave Ian a pat on the shoulder as she passed him, on her way to go see Jack, and Ian watched her go, and then turned his attention to Janet, who pulled a privacy curtain around them, watching her warily, as if unsure what she was going to do. He'd much rather have had a different doctor check him out – at least just then he would have, because Janet Fraiser already looked displeased with him, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out anything to say to make it better.

"Take your shirt off, cadet," Janet said. "I'd like a look at that cut before we do anything else."

OOOOOOOOO

"Is it my imagination, or is she in a bad mood?" Jack asked in a low voice as Sam joined him and his medic behind his own curtain on the other side of the room. The man was taking his blood pressure and listening to his heartbeat, and he knew O'Neill hadn't been talking to him – although he could have told Jack that it wasn't his imagination.

Sam nodded, "She's a bit edgy."

"Bregman do something wrong?" Jack asked. "Maybe I should go have a talk with him…"

Sam shook her head as the medic snorted in amusement.

"It's the dance tomorrow. She still doesn't like that Ian's taking Cass."

"Ah."

Jack hadn't really been happy with that, either, at first. Despite the fact that he liked Ian. He liked Cassie, too, after all, and she was way too young to be going to dances and parties and spending time with guys. But he'd had a talk with Ian about it when the subject had first come up – and several with Sam – and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to have to worry about Ian doing anything inappropriate. The kid wasn't dumb, and Jack had left very little to the imagination about what he'd do to anyone who messed with Cassie's heart – or body, for that matter.

Sam smiled, and started to say something, when the medic spoke up, first.

"Could you take your shirt off, Colonel?"

Jack complied, while Sam watched, resisting the urge to make striptease noises.


	8. 08

"It's _quite_ a bruise, Cadet," Janet told him, her fingers surprisingly gentle as she probed the edges of the ever-darkening bruise on his side. "How did it happen?"

"Jack got caught in a snare, and when the tree whipped up, it hit me."

"Colonel O'Neill was caught in a snare?" Janet wondered why he hadn't mentioned that.

Ian nodded, and winced when she touched a particularly sore spot.

"He got caught by the ankle and was jerked upside down."

He would have mentioned how amusing it was, but he didn't think Fraiser would share in the amusement – at least not since it was _him_ telling the story – so he just stuck to the facts.

She turned the direction Jack had vanished in, as if to go see that he was all right, but Janet had seen him, and knew he hadn't been limping. So obviously he hadn't been terribly injured. Her medic would find an injury if there was one.

"Did you clean it out when you cut yourself?" She asked, turning once more to his side and looking at the cut with an intense consideration that made Ian wonder if she was trying to think of a reason to give him stitches or do something horrible to him. It wasn't that deep, after all, and you couldn't stitch bruises.

He shook his head.

"We started to, when Teal'c came and told us about the building…" He looked down at it. "But I cleaned it in the shower."

She harrumphed, unsatisfied, and reached for an antibiotic ointment.

"We'll clean it out and bandage it," she told him. "That ought to do the job – much better than a shower."

He didn't answer, but she wasn't really expecting him to, and she cleaned the cut with care – probably more care than she needed to, he decided. The antibiotic stuff stung, and as pissed off as she was with him at the moment anyways, he figured she was just getting even in whatever way she could.

She bandaged it, told him to ice the bruise if it was still tender in a few hours, and then allowed him to put his shirt back on.

"You're fit, Cadet," she told him; making a few notes on the chart she had on her clipboard. "I'm clearing you for release."

"Thanks."

He left the little curtained area and saw Jack and Sam lounging near the door – presumably waiting for him to finish.

"How is he, Doc?" Jack asked.

"He has a deep bruise, and a laceration, but he'll be fine."

"Stitches?" Jack asked.

Fraiser shook her head.

"It's not that bad."

Now it definitely sounded like she was sorry it wasn't.

"Are you and Cassie still coming to dinner tonight?"

Janet nodded.

"Six?"

It was Sam's turn to nod.

"Around then."

"We'll be there." Janet turned to Jack. "They didn't find any leg injury? No pulled muscles?"

O'Neill shook his head, immediately understanding what she was referring to.

"I'm fine."

Since she could go and discuss him with the medic that had done his examination, she nodded and allowed the subject to drop.

"I have work to do. I'll see you guys at 6."

Jack and Sam both nodded, and then turned to Ian.

"Ready for debriefing?"

"Yeah."

OOOOOOOOO

"So you don't know exactly who might have lived in this building?" Hammond asked a half an hour later.

Daniel shook his head.

"We think – maybe – that the language on the wall was an ancient Asiatic form of Lao, which is a precursor to the original Chinese symbols that most of the Eastern Asian languages are offshooted from, but I won't know for sure until I have a chance to check my reference books."

"And you're going to do that tonight?"

Daniel nodded, looking over at Ian. Since most of his books were still in his old apartment, he wanted to make sure it was all right with the New Yorker that he come over and use them. Ian understood what he was asking, and nodded. He didn't mind, at all.

"Yes, General. If I can figure out a way to see what the writing says, I'd like a chance to go back tomorrow and maybe finish translating. There was too much on the wall to copy this morning, and who knows what it might say?"

"It might say '_this way to the bathroom'_," Jack said.

Ian grinned.

"Or it might say '_this is the way to defeat the Goa'uld'_," Daniel retorted. "We just never know what we might find."

Since Jack had to concede that, he nodded, and looked over at Hammond.

"I don't mind going back tomorrow, Sir – if Daniel finds a reason for us to."

Hammond shrugged. If Jack didn't object, he didn't have any reason to, either.

"Very well. We'll meet back here at 9:30 tomorrow to hear what you've discovered Doctor Jackson."

Daniel nodded, and Hammond stood up, effectively ending the briefing.

"You don't mind company tonight?" Daniel asked Ian, who shook his head.

"Nope."

"I thought you were coming to dinner tonight?" Sam asked as they all stood up.

Ian shook his head giving her a wry smile.

"I think Janet Fraiser has seen enough of me, today, Sam. There's no need to antagonize her further."

"She won't mind-"

He shook his head, and gestured for her to lead the way out of the room, with the rest of SG-1 behind them.

"As much as I'd love the home-cooked meal, I don't want to make things harder on Cassie than they already are." He knew that she and her mother had already argued a couple times about him. He just wished Fraiser would believe it when he told her he didn't have any designs on her daughter. Even Jack sort of believed him.

Sam put her arm around his waist as they walked, understanding the difficulty he was having and unable to do anything to help him. She'd already tried, after all, and even she couldn't get through Janet's protective mother instinct.

"It'll all work out," she promised him.

"It'll be over tomorrow night," Ian told her, appreciating the support. "Once the dance is done, Doctor Fraiser can stop hovering, and Cassie can stop being defensive."

"Until the next dance…"

He shook his head.

"She doesn't have another one until Prom, and hopefully by then she'll find someone… more acceptable… to take her."

Sam wanted to hug him then and there, and wondered how such a nice guy ended up feeling so low about himself – of course, it didn't help that Janet didn't trust him any further than she could throw Teal'c and even Jack wasn't completely sure of him when it came to his intentions with Cassie.

"You're not that bad, Ian."

He shrugged, and seemed glad when the elevator came to take them all up to the surface.

"Tell that to Fraiser."


	9. 09

_Author's note: Hey guys, reviews and author alerts aren't coming in very well because something's wrong with the site – or maybe they're trying to catch up from a backload or something – but don't panic. Just keep looking for the updates (which will be more frequent the next couple days than they have been since I'm finally catching up on things after my vacation) and keep reviewing! I'll get them eventually, lol._

OOOOOOOOO

"I thought _Ian_ was coming to dinner?"

Sam shook her head, smiling at Cassie, who had instantly looked for the cadet when she'd come through the door. Even before greeting Jack – which was almost unheard of.

"He's helping Daniel, tonight." She told her. "They're looking up some ancient language in Daniel's books."

She tried to hide her disappointment, but Sam and Jack both noticed it – and they both noticed that Janet didn't seem to mind at all that the Cadet wasn't there.

"You'll see him tomorrow," Sam reminded her, which made Cassie smile, excitedly.

"I know. You should _see_ my dress, Sam! It's _gorgeous_."

"It's a bit _revealing_," Janet said, frowning.

Cassie rolled her eyes.

"Mom, it's not _that_ bad."

"It's strapless."

It was Jack's turn to frown.

"_Strapless_?"

"It's great, Jack," Cassie told him. "You'll love it."

He doubted that.

"You're wearing a _strapless_ dress?"

It was obvious that Janet had found someone who agreed with her about just how bad of an idea it was for Cassie to wear something so revealing, and she was glad it was _Jack_ – it made her certain that she wasn't being the over protective mother that Cassie was accusing her of being.

"It's strapless, and the hem goes to here," she said, gesturing to mid-thigh.

Jack scowled, looking at Cassie, who rolled her eyes again.

"It's not that bad, Jack. It's beautiful."

"It's-"

"Hey," Sam interrupted, fairly certain that Cassie would never be able to convince Jack that _any_ strapless dress wasn't _that_ bad. "Why don't you help me set the table, Cassie? Jack can finish cooking dinner."

He looked over at her, realizing immediately what she was doing. She was changing the subject. Had it been anyone else, he would have scowled, because he hated having people manipulate a conversation he was having, but it wasn't anyone, it was Sam, and Jack would let her get away with anything.

He gave her a look that plainly told her he knew what she was doing, and she replied with an innocent look that was a match for his very best one – where had she learned that from? – and then nodded.

"I'd love to finish making dinner."

Sam smiled.

"Thanks."

"_Cassie_ can come help _me_, though," he said, reaching out and taking the teenager by the arm in a gentle but firm grip and pulling her into the kitchen with him. "I'd like to hear more about this dress."

OOOOOOOOOO

When Daniel walked into his former apartment, he couldn't help but be impressed. He'd expected it to be a sty, really. After all, a teenaged guy lived here, now, and Daniel knew that most teenaged guys were slobs. He'd been one when he was a teen, after all – although because of circumstances, he hadn't had a lot of things to leave lying around.

It wasn't, though. The place was spotless. Even better than when he'd lived there. The floor was clean; there wasn't even any dust on his books, as far as he could tell. The dining room table was the only thing that was dirty – there was a towel spread across it to protect the wood, and Ian had dismantled his Glock and had apparently been in the process of cleaning and oiling it when Daniel had knocked on the door.

"Wow…"

Ian looked around.

"What?"

"It's so… _clean_."

The Cadet smiled.

"When you're used to an inspection once a week, it's pretty easy to keep things kept up."

"Every week, huh?" Daniel asked, still looking around. Even the kitchen was spotless – there weren't even any dishes in the sink that needed to be washed. "Do you even _use_ the kitchen?"

"Of course."

"For more than making _cereal_?"

"Sometimes."

Ah hah.

Hanging on a hook on the back of the closet door was a plastic covered garment bag.

"Your school uniforms?" Daniel asked.

Ian shook his head.

"That's the tux I'm wearing to the dance tomorrow. I didn't want it to get wrinkled."

Daniel nodded, and Ian pointed at the bookshelf as he went back to the gun on the table. Now that he had it apart, he wanted to get it cleaned and together again before he managed to lose some important piece.

"I took a quick look through a couple of those books," he told Daniel, who walked over to the bookcase, "The two on the bottom on the left are probably the ones you want to check."

Ian was fairly good at researching, but languages _were_ Daniel's forte, after all.

"Did you eat, Daniel?"

"What?" Daniel looked up from the book he was already holding and thumbing through. "Oh… no. I told Sally I'd grab something on the way home – or that you and I would go get something."

"Sounds like a plan."

Of course, they had other things to take care of, first.

He started cleaning swamp goop out of the action of his handgun, while Daniel took the two books in question and went over and sat down on the sofa. The room became quiet as the two of them became engrossed in their various projects.


	10. 10

_Author's Note: I don't think Janet's being portrayed as over the top in her protectiveness. Lots of single mothers (especially – but not exclusively) are overprotective like that when it comes to their daughters. Add in the fact that she has a dominative personality – she has to to work where she does and get the people around her to do what she wants them to – and it's a recipe for over protectiveness. Then when you throw Jack into the mix – and we all know how he is – you just gotta feel bad for Cassie, lol. That said, thanks for the reviews. I think the site is finally catching up._

OOOOOOOOO

"It's _not_ that bad, Jack," Cassie told him as they put the final touches on the dinner that Sam had started. It wasn't anything too fancy – they ate like normal people most of the time, after all. Pork chops in mushroom sauce, scalloped potatoes and salad.

"How _not that bad_ is it?" He asked her, pulling down a serving platter for the pork chops.

"There's no plunging neckline or anything like that," Cassie told him. She gestured to a spot about 2 inches below her collarbone, making a line across her body. "It goes to there, and the skirt comes to here…" She slid her hand along her mid-thigh.

"And it's strapless?"

"Yeah." She couldn't hide her smile of excitement. And Jack couldn't hide his scowl.

"What holds it up? It better be crazy glue – and a _lot_ of it."

Cassie laughed, and her hands came to her breasts, up underneath them to cup them and lift them.

"It has a-"

"_Eh_!"

He held up his hand. He didn't really want to know if it involved anything where she was holding.

"It stays up?"

She nodded.

"It'd better."

Cassie smiled, and took the salad bowl from the counter to take it into the dining room.

"What color is your dress, Cass?" Sam asked when she came into the dining room.

"Red."

"You'll have to drop by here on your way to the dance tomorrow so we can get some pictures."

Cassie smiled, pleased, and nodded.

"I'll tell Ian you want us to."

Which, of course, meant they'd stop by, because Ian would do pretty much anything Sam wanted him to. Cassie wondered when the day would come that she could know for sure that he'd do whatever _she_ asked him to. If it ever did.

"You do that," Jack said, coming into the room behind her. "I'd like a chance to talk to him."

"After _I_ do," Janet said, sitting down at the table.

Sam sighed, inwardly. Poor Ian. She'd have to give him a heads-up in the morning.

OOOOOOOOO

"_Here_ it is…"

It was only an hour or so later, and Ian looked up from the shoes he'd been shining to look at Daniel.

"What's that?"

"_Lao_," Daniel said, looking up from his book. "You were right. It's not exactly the same, but it's really close."

He gestured for Ian to come over, and the Cadet did, sitting down on the sofa – which was littered with Daniel's notes.

"Take a look."

Daniel handed him one of the papers that he'd scribbled on, and then one of the papers he'd copied on.

"See? Those two symbols are the same."

Ian looked and saw that he was right.

"What does the symbol mean?"

"It's water… or something like that. Maybe _drink_. Or _river_."

"How many of the others do you know?"

Daniel frowned.

"It's an ancient language, Ian… the translations aren't very precise."

"Meaning you don't know many?"

"Not all that many, no. And not all the symbols are the same – but the people that lived on P99-801 are obviously related to those that lived in Asia, or someplace in that area – and that might explain why the Chinese were using gunpowder and other inventions long before the rest of the world."

Ian thought that over, and nodded.

"You could be right."

"I'll get the rest of the symbols off the wall tomorrow when we go back, while you and the others look for more buildings…" he trailed off, thinking to himself. "I just can't believe there's only one structure there. There has to be more."

"Maybe they've crumbled," Ian suggested. "Who knows how old those buildings are? They could be-"

"Maybe." Daniel shuffled his papers restlessly. He liked puzzles, just not those that he couldn't solve immediately. "We'll have to see what happens tomorrow, I suppose. There were symbols on the back of the building, too?"

Ian shook his head.

"On the _side_ of the building. But they were really worn down. Even worse than the ones on the front."

"Do you remember what they looked like?"

Ian snorted. Of course he did.

"I know what they looked like, but no promises that I can draw them out for you."

"Will you try?"

"Sure."

Ian took a couple pieces of the paper Daniel had brought over to the table and started writing, while Daniel watched him, hovering over his shoulder. He was only able to be quiet for a few minutes, though.

"So… why are they having that dance of yours on a school night?"

Ian looked up from his paper.

"It's Valentines' Day."

"Yeah, but no one can stay up late, because they have school the next day – right? They should have had it on Friday, instead of a Thursday. Even if it's a day late." That would have made more sense, right?

"There's a teacher's meeting thing on Friday," Ian told him. "No school. And it's not _my_ dance, it's Cassie's."

"How many times has Janet scowled at you or given you warning looks?"

"More than I can count."

"And Jack?"

"I think he's saving up for later…"

Daniel smiled. That was likely.


	11. 11

_Author's Note: Ian almost certainly has a formal cadet uniform, but I figured he'd look better in a tux. Just a little artistic license, I suppose :) ._

OOOOOOOOOOO

"You look tired."

Ian looked up from the breakfast he was picking his way through, and smiled when he saw Sam standing over him. She noticed that even his smile looked tired.

"I was up late last night."

"Oh?"

Just then Daniel walked over and joined them, carrying a tray of his own and Sam noticed that he looked just as tired.

"Hey, Sam."

He sat down across from Ian, a stack of papers on his tray with his coffee and breakfast.

"Good morning, Daniel."

"Join us?"

She shook her head, and rested a hand lightly on Ian's shoulder.

"Actually, I need to talk to Ian for a moment – if I'm not interrupting anything?"

They both shook their heads at the same time, and Ian stood up, leaving his breakfast where it was.

"I'll see you in the briefing, Daniel."

Daniel nodded, and started shuffling through his papers, rereading them while at the same time he drank his coffee and ate his breakfast, and Sam and Ian headed for the door.

"What's up, Sam?"

"Walk with me for a minute…?"

"Sure."

They walked down the hall for only a few paces while Sam made sure there wasn't anyone else around, and then she spoke up.

"How's your side?"

"It's okay."

"Doesn't hurt?"

"Nah."

"Not at all?"

He smiled, slightly.

"A _little_."

She smiled. She was pretty sure it hurt a lot more than he was admitting.

"Did you get your tux for the dance?"

"Yeah."

"And a corsage?"

He nodded.

"I'm all set, Sam."

"Good." She hesitated, and then, when she couldn't think of a good way to bring it up, she shrugged. "Ian… whatever happens today… you need to make sure that you don't take it personally."

He stopped.

"What do you mean, Sam?"

"Janet's feeling a bit... _overprotective_ right now, as I'm sure you've noticed?"

"Yeah…"

You'd have to be dead not to notice.

"She'll probably give you quite the lecture about what she expects from you – either today sometime, or tonight when you pick Cass up."

Ian nodded.

"I'm expecting her to."

He was expecting her to give him the evil eye all day; too, so he was glad that SG-1 was going to go offworld so he wouldn't have to put up with it.

"Yeah, well… you might get one from Jack, too."

Ian nodded again.

"I expect _that_, too."

"You do?"

"He's the closest thing Cassie has to a father…" Ian said, shrugging. "And he's been giving me looks lately that tell me he wants to say something, but doesn't know exactly how to bring it up. I figure it has to be about the dance, because I haven't done anything else wrong."

Sam smiled; she should have been surprised that Ian didn't really need the warning, but she wasn't. He'd just proven to her that he was as observant as she already knew he was.

"Just remember; no matter what he says, he likes you."

"I'll do that, Sam," he promised her. "Thank you for the warning, though."

It was exactly the kind of thing he expected from her – she'd shown him several times what kind of friend she was, and this was just another example of it.

"I didn't want you to feel ambushed."

"I won't. Now."

"Will you stop by the house tonight? I'd love to see you and Cass together, dressed up."

"Sure."

"Good. Now that I've delivered my warning… I have some things I need to do before the briefing. Do you want to come?"

He shook his head.

"I need to do a couple things, too," he told her. "I'll see you there, okay?"

OOOOOOOO

"You look tired."

Daniel looked up and saw Jack, Sam and Teal'c entering the briefing room. He'd finished his breakfast and had taken another cup of coffee and his papers to the one place he knew he'd never be interrupted – at least until a few minutes before the briefing was scheduled to start.

"I was up late."

Jack bit back an automatic comment about Daniel's love life, but the twinkle in his brown eyes plainly told Daniel what he had been about to say, and Daniel shook his head.

"I was at _Ian's_."

Which explained to Sam why the Cadet had looked so tired – although she'd expected that was the reason.

"Doing what?"

"Looking through books, and studying this Lao language form." Daniel held up the papers that he'd been looking at. "Ian's memory is _incredible_… I mean, I know you guys _told_ me it was, but yesterday he had a brief glance at the side wall of that little stone building we saw, and last night he was able to write them all down – more or less."

"More or less?" Jack repeated.

"He _saw_ them, but some of them were faded and worn down, and while he remembered what they looked like – which is just amazing – they weren't complete. I'd like to get back there and check it out, while the rest of you look for more structures."

Jack frowned. He had absolutely no intention of leaving Daniel alone again – he had no desire to go swamp slogging that afternoon.

"Why don't we talk to Hammond about that?"

"About what?"

They all looked up and saw that General Hammond was emerging from his office, and at almost the same moment the door opened, and Ian came in and sat down next to Daniel.

Jack gestured at Daniel, who took that as his cue to repeat his desire to return to the planet and why. Since the planet had already been checked out – a little bit, anyways – and had been proven to be less dangerous than some places they'd been, Hammond was more than willing to send SG-1 and the cadet back. It was a good mission, and it was relatively safe – which was what Hammond wanted just then. That way he didn't have to worry about Ian and Sam didn't have to worry so much about Jack.

By the time Daniel was finished speaking, Hammond was already nodding.

"You have a go, SG-1, just try to stay clean."

Jack gave Daniel a pointed look as he stood up.

"We will, Sir."

Daniel didn't say anything.


	12. 12

"Cassie!"

She turned at the squeal and smiled when her friends came rushing up to her locker, one of them holding a small envelope in her hand.

"What's up, guys?"

"Do you want to see my dress?" Angela asked.

"You _finally_ got it?"

The blonde girl nodded, and opened the envelope, pulling out Polaroid snapshots of herself dressed in a midnight blue formal gown that was almost as revealing as the one Cassie was intending to wear that night.

"Oh, it's gorgeous!"

Angela preened.

"My mom wouldn't let me go strapless, or I would have got this bright green one that matches my eyes perfectly. But this one is pretty, too."

"You told Rod he couldn't wear jeans and that horrible t-shirt with the tuxedo drawn on the front, didn't you?" Cassie asked.

She laughed and nodded.

"He said he was only joking when he said he was going to wear it."

"What about that Ian guy?" Crystal asked. "Is he wearing a uniform or a tux?"

"A tux."

"Not that it matters," Angela said, giving her friend a sidelong glance that was positively naughty. "He's not going to be in it for _long_, is he?"

Cassie blushed a brilliant shade of red as she smiled, embarrassed. Ever since she'd told her friends that Ian was taking her to the Formal, she'd been getting teased almost nonstop. They had both seen him at the movies with Cassie during Thanksgiving break, and while they both thought the blonde guy she'd been with had been sweeter, there was no denying that the dark-haired Cadet had been sexier. Dark and mysterious, and definitely someone they'd allow to take them to the dance if Cassie came down with the flu suddenly.

It didn't help that her friends could tell that Cass was completely head over heels for the guy, either. They were constantly teasing Cassie one minute, and making all sorts of suggestions for the rest of the evening – once the dance was over, or if the two of them left early – the next. And Cassie would blush and smile, and deny that anything was going to happen. But she _had_ to admit, privately, that the more she thought about it, the more she _liked_ the idea of something happening with Ian.

And then she'd start considering that, and would find her cheeks getting even redder, and her friends would see it and smile knowingly, well aware of what was on her mind. And then they'd start in with the advice – although Cass was certain that neither of them had any more experience in bed than she did. They were probably just getting their information from cable.

Rather than allow them to really get started on teasing her, Cassie took her books from her locker. She was already so excited about the Formal that night that she was highly strung, and she didn't want to make it worse with their speculations and naughty looks.

"I'd better get to class."

They both grinned, knowing they'd gotten to her again – that's what friends were for, right? – and nodded.

"We'll see you at lunch."

"Okay."

She closed her locker and headed for class, but behind her she could hear Angela and Crystal both giggling.

"_Children_…"

Despite herself, though, Cassie grinned. And she was still smiling when she entered her next class.

OOOOOOOOOO

"I am _not_ a happy camper…"

The six of them had just emerged from the Stargate to find that sometime during their absence from the planet, it had started to rain. Not a gentle rain, either. It was cold, and hard, and coming down in buckets.

Jack looked down at Jaffer, who didn't seem to mind the rain at all and then over at Daniel.

"Who was in charge of forecasting?"

Daniel looked up at the cloud-heavy sky, taking off the sunglasses that he'd been wearing and putting them in his pocket.

"Maybe it'll taper off," he said, hopefully. "It could just be a summer storm."

"Or it could be a monsoon."

Ian looked around, hoping that Jack would call it a day. Who wanted to walk in the rain?

"That building had a _roof_ on it, right?" Jack asked.

Daniel nodded.

"Then let's go."

There wasn't any sense in going back with nothing to show for the trip, Jack decided. If they did, they'd just be sent off to do other things around the base, and for Jack, that meant _paperwork_. And he'd rather walk through raining cats and dogs before doing paperwork that could be avoided. As long as they weren't _big_ cats and dogs.

Ian sighed, and stepped away from the gate, his hand going to his side. It ached quite a bit, and since there wasn't really any way to make it feel better – it wasn't like he could ice it or put a heating pad on it out here in the middle of a rainstorm – he simply massaged it lightly.

"Stay close, Ian," Jack said, watching Jaffer – just to make sure the lab wasn't smelling anything different today than he had the day before. Jack didn't like surprises, and he'd already had one this morning. He didn't want another one. The big lab simply wagged his tail and trotted a little ahead of Jack; occasionally looking back to make sure he was following with the others and wasn't hiding from him.

Ian fell into step beside Jack, his clothing already soaked through, and water dripping off his hat brim while Teal'c and Jack (the dog) took the left flank, and Daniel went to the right. They knew where they were going, though, so aside from watching the ground for more snares like Jack had been caught by the day before, they pretty much walked with a purpose.

"So…"

The Cadet looked over at Jack, who was looking almost uncomfortable. Even more uncomfortable than the heavy rain and wet clothes could make him feel.

"Yeah?"

"Cassie and Fraiser came over for dinner last night. I heard all about Cassie's new dress." Way more than he'd wanted to hear, since that had been the subject of the dinner conversation – as well as a conversation between Janet and Cassie that had been very close to being classified as an argument.

"Oh, yeah? I haven't seen it."

He groaned, inwardly. He'd been hoping that the lecture wasn't going to come until afternoon at least, but it was looking as if Jack was ready now. And was taking advantage of having Daniel and Teal'c both out of earshot.

"It's…" Jack shrugged. "… a dress."

"That's good. I'm sure she'll look great in it."

Which was the exact opening that Jack had needed.

"She'd better _stay_ in it," he told him, looking over at Ian with a definite scowl on his face. "I don't have to explain to you what I mean?"

Ian shook his head. Well, _that_ had been blunt, enough, hadn't it?

"I'm not going to do anything, Jack."

"I'd be very pissed off if you did."

"I won't-"

"That includes no drinking."

"I don't-"

"Or smoking."

"I-"

"Or drugs or quiet walks alone or slow dancing."

"I-"

"Fine. _One_ slow dance. But not _too_ slow. And not _too_ close."

"I don't do drugs, I don't drink and I don't smoke. You know that."

Jack nodded.

"I'm just reminding you."

"I won't do anything, Jack."

"Good."

He didn't say anything else, focusing again on watching for snares on the ground, but Ian had a sinking feeling this wasn't going to be the last he'd heard of the dance – or the rules.


	13. 13

Author's Note: Yay! the site's up again. Here you go!

OOOOOOOO

The low-slung stone building had a roof, but it was a leaky one. The floor inside was wet, with small pools of water collecting in several places, and there wasn't enough cover proved by the trees to even slow down the torrential rain.

"Tell me again why we didn't bring umbrellas?" Jack asked – speaking to the room in general as they all took a quick break once they made it to the ruined building.

Walking in the rain wasn't fun. Walking in the rain while watching for snares was even less exciting. Walking in the rain knowing that when you reach your destination it's still going to be more or less in the rain was even worse, and everyone was just a little grumpy – although Ian was more withdrawn than the others, and Jack hoped it was because he was thinking about what he'd been told about what was expected of him at the dance that night.

"It was beautiful yesterday," Daniel said, pulling out the supplies he'd need from his pack and frowning at the rain that seemed to be coming down even harder. This was going to make it hard on him, because he didn't have anything to protect the notes that he was planning on writing.

"I'll hold a cover over you while you write, Daniel," Ian offered. The cadet had been looking around the interior of the building, but since it didn't have much to offer, it didn't take long. The only thing of interest was a pile of rocks that might once have been an alter of some sort. Of course, it was always possible it had been a kitchen table, too.

"Thanks, Ian."

"While you're doing that, we'll go see if there's anything interesting in the area," Jack said, looking out in the rain. Even that would be more interesting than watching Daniel work. And he wouldn't have to worry about the archeologist wandering off – not with Ian there to keep him in check.

Daniel nodded, and headed out into the rain with Ian, who had taken an emergency blanket out of his first aid kit and had unfolded it. It wasn't going to be a perfect solution, but it would provide protection for Daniel's notes – and Daniel, too, for that matter.

Jack and Teal'c and the dogs took off into the rain, leaving Daniel to his copying.

OOOOOOOO

It was just as well that Ian wasn't into small talk, because Daniel was so engrossed in what he was doing that for the next hour neither of them spoke a sentence to each other. The young man stood in the rain, holding the blanket up over Daniel, who was crouched against the side of the building, comparing his notes from the night before to those symbols on the wall – what few he could see clearly, and then running his hand delicately over the rest as if hoping he could learn what they said by osmosis. He muttered to himself occasionally, but Ian never answered, since he wasn't really paying all that much attention to what was being said.

Another half hour later, and Jack and Teal'c appeared, soaked to the skin and looking moody – even for Teal'c – although the dogs looked cheerfully willing to go back out into the rain.

"Take a break, guys," Jack said, frowning when he and Teal'c approached from the side. Ian was easily as wet as Jack and Teal'c. The cadet hadn't been able to figure out a way to keep himself dry while he kept Daniel dry – the blanket wasn't big enough to cover them both – so he'd simply been standing in the rain. And with his arms lifted slightly, holding that blanket, the rain had trickled down under the arms of his shirt and jacket and had soaked his t-shirt, leaving him feeling about as chilled as he'd ever been.

"Daniel."

Daniel looked up from what he was doing, surprised to see Jack and Teal'c standing there.

"What?"

"Take a break. Ian's soaked."

"What?" Daniel looked up at Ian, and put away his notes immediately, chagrined to see that the young man was actually shivering, slightly. "I'm sorry, Ian. I completely lost track of-"

"Don't worry about it, Daniel. I'll dry." Eventually.

"Have you got everything you need, Daniel?" Jack asked as they all headed into the relative shelter of the building.

"I have enough to give me something to do the rest of the day – preferably someplace dry." He told them. Meaning he was ready to go home. "Did you find any more dwellings?"

"We did not."

"But the ground around here is pretty wet right now," Jack said. "If it's dry tomorrow, we can come back and look again. I for one am ready to go home, though. Ian?"

The cadet looked over at him, and Jack noticed he was rubbing his side. Probably the cold was killing it, Jack decided, feeling a little guilty for leaving him out in the rain with Daniel for so long.

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

Looking a littlesurprised by the question, Ian nodded.

"Fine."

"Let's go home."

OOOOOOOOOO

When the alarms went off, Sam was in her lab, finishing up a test on a reactor that she was hoping to develop for the Air Force's own fleet of deep space exploration ships. Far into the future, probably, but you never knew, right? She looked up when she heard them, and ran through the various teams that were off world and when they were due back, looking at her watch. Since none of them were due just then, she headed for the command center, concerned.

Her pace wasn't anywhere near as quick as it used to be. Instead of walking, she tended to waddle a little bit, now, and as her back started hurting more and more, her smooth pace was even more erratic. A small price to pay as far as she was concerned, although it did mean that by the time she made it to the embarkation room, the alarms were silent once more – meaning that whoever had emerged from the gate wasn't an enemy. And since she didn't see medics rushing past her on their way to the gate room, there weren't injuries, so she knew she didn't have to hurry. Which was just as well.

They came out the door just as she was entering it, and Sam couldn't help the slight smile on her face. All of them were soaked – again. Even worse than the day before, although none of them were dirty and the dogs didn't stink. Which meant they hadn't been slogging through the bogs again.

Jack scowled at her look of amusement, but not for long. Only as long as it took her to walk up and greet them – starting with Jaffer and Jack (the dog) who came rushing up to her, followed by the two-legged members of the group who walked a little slower.

"Back so soon?" She asked, innocently.

"It's raining," Jack told her – unnecessarily. Unless all of them had fallen into a river –and they hadn't mentioned any water – it had to be raining.

"Find anything interesting?"

"We didn't find anything. We'll have to see what Daniel found. Hammond told us to get dried off, and be in debriefing in fifteen minutes."

"No injuries?"

"Nope."

She looked at Ian, who shook his head. He was fine, too. Wet. But fine.

"Huh. Then I'll meet you all in the briefing room…"

Jack nodded.


	14. 14

_Author's Note: Janet's in character guys, trust me. There will be an explanation further into the story, I promise. Until then, just let her worry and be protective, because that's her job. :)_

OOOOOOO

"So what did you find Doctor Jackson?"

Daniel looked over at Hammond, shuffling his stack of slightly damp papers a bit.

"Actually, General, all I've done so far is get the symbols written down." He gave Ian an apologetic look. "It was really wet, and the conditions were such that we didn't really want to stay out there any-"

"He hasn't found anything, yet, Sir," Jack interrupted, cutting off Daniel's long-winded explanation, "But he's going to work on it tonight."

Daniel nodded, not at all upset at Jack's interruption – he was used to it, after all. "I have the books I'll need, so I'll start working on them immediately, and hopefully by tomorrow, I'll know more."

"So you want to return tomorrow?" Hammond asked, frowning. Three trips to the same place without much to show for it wasn't really practical, after all.

"Yes, General. Whether it's a temple or an outhouse, it's obvious someone was there that has at least atenuous connection to our own past, and I think it's worth checking out. Today didn't really count because it was really hard to get anything done."

Hammond sighed, but nodded, able to see the logic behind that.

"Very well. If none of you are injured…" and he looked at Ian, who shook his head. "…then you're cleared for other projects for the rest of the day. Cadet Brooks, if you have any assignments for your instructors at the academy, I suggest you get them done while you have the free time."

Ian nodded; he already had them done. But that was a good way for him to be excused from the base, since his homework was all at the apartment. He wanted a chance to go home and get some rest and maybe a nice hot shower – longer than the short one he'd just come from – before getting ready for that evening. Not to mention, if Jack had another lecture in the makings, he'd avoid that – as well as Fraiser's glares, at least for a while. Since none of them had shown to be anything but wet when they'd returned to the SGC, and they'd returned from a planet they'd already been to, the end of the mission exams in the infirmary had been short and Janet had been to lunch when they'd gotten there, meaning he had a different doctor, who simply took his blood pressure and checked his heartbeat and eyes and sent him off to take a shower to warm up. Short and sweet. Which had been fine with him.

"Dismissed."

They all stood, and Sam looked over at Ian.

"Are you heading home?"

He nodded.

"Unless you need me for something?"

There had actually been a couple times since he'd arrived that she'd asked him for help in one of her experiments – nothing dangerous or too thrilling, but he had a grasp on the mathematics of wormhole theory that few in the SGC did – Sam being an immediate exception – and he'd managed to make himself useful.

"No. I think I'm done for the day, too."

Jack looked over at her, concerned.

"Are you okay?"

Sam smiled, and nodded.

"I'm just ready to go home." And since she was pregnant and had doctor's orders to come and go as she felt she needed to, she was going to.

"I'll take you," Jack told her.

"You have requisition forms that I need you to take care of, Colonel," Hammond said before Sam could agree. "Cadet Brooks is going home; he can drop her off."

Jack scowled, but only because he didn't want to do his paperwork. He trusted Ian to drive safely, and knew that Sam wouldn't mind the New Yorker taking her home.

"Yes, Sir."

Bah.

Sam grinned, and turned to Ian.

"I'll meet you in my lab, whenever you're ready."

He nodded. He was more or less ready, already, except that he had to go by the locker room and get his drenched uniform and Glock – which was going to need to be oiled again thanks to the soaking it had received that day.

"I'll be right there."

Jack walked with Sam down to her lab, with Jaffer close by, and Sam rested her hand lightly on the small of his back as they walked – something he loved, and she knew it.

"Ian looks a little… distracted."

Jack nodded, his own hand coming to rest on the small of her back, too.

"I saw that, too."

"You didn't lecture him about the dance, did you?"

Jack shrugged, slightly.

"I mentioned to him that I expected him to be a gentleman. Something like that."

"You didn't threaten him, did you?"

"No." He was going to save that for that night. "It might be his side giving him a little trouble. It was cold, and I caught him rubbing it. Bruises stiffen up in the cold – you know that."

That was true, she knew from experience.

"That's probably it…"

Jack nodded, and brought his hand up to the nape of her neck in what was unmistakably a caress.

"Why don't you take Jaffer home with you? If Hammond's going to make me do paperwork, I'm going to be here all day, and he might as well be with you."

And she knew that this way Jack wouldn't be worried about her being alone in case something happened. The closer she got to the end of her pregnancy, the more he was keeping an eye on her, even though he tried to act like he wasn't. If Jaffer wasn't with her, then he managed to contrive having Janet, or Daniel or Teal'c with her – and occasionally Ian, as well. She didn't mind, though. It was just another sign of how much he loved her, and how could she object to that?

Besides, if she decided to take a nap, the black lab was good for cuddling with when Jack wasn't around.

"I think that can be arranged. If he wants to come."

They both looked down at the lab, who looked up at them cheerfully, wagging his tail. Sure, he'd go with Sam!


	15. 15

_Author's Note: I know this one has a slow start guys, but the beginning of the story is important, too, and I have to write it out before I can get to the dance. But it's coming, now, so here we go._

OOOOOOOOOO

To Ian's relief, Sam didn't give him a lecture about the dance that evening and how she expected him to behave with Cassie. Truth to tell, he hadn't actually expected her to, but since everyone else was acting like he had suddenly become some kind of axe murderer on parole, he just wasn't sure what to expect from her – even after the warning she'd given him that morning.

Instead, they talked about the reactor she'd been working on that day, since Sam hashed out ideas a lot better when she had someone to bounce them off – which wasn't something Jack enjoyed doing, not even for her – and Jaffer sat in the back of the convertible (which had the top up because there was no way he'd risk Sam catching a cold just so he could look cool).

When they got to her house, he offered to walk her to the door, but she shook her head with a smile as he opened her door for her and she got out of the car.

"Jaffer will walk me to the door. You go home and get some rest. You look tired."

She, of course, knew he didn't have any homework, since she'd been the one to check it over for him when he'd finished it earlier that week.

He nodded.

"I'll see you this evening when we stop by."

"Are you going to dinner before or after the dance?"

"After. Cassie doesn't want to dance on a full stomach, she said."

Sam nodded, and reached out and rested her hand on his forehead before he could realize what she was doing and move out of the way. He was warm, like she'd assumed he was – he looked a little off.

"Are you all right?"

He smiled, and now he _did_ move out of her reach.

"I'm fine, Sam. I just need some sleep."

She didn't look completely convinced, but Ian shooed her off to the house, reminding her that Daniel had been at his house until the wee hours, and that would make anyone tired – especially with the week he'd had.

"I'll see you tonight."

He nodded – again – and got into the car before she could keep worrying about him. Probably something about being pregnant made her worry more than she should, and Ian didn't think it was good for her. He drove home and took that long hot shower he'd promised himself, and then set his alarm for five, which would give him an hour to get ready before getting Cassie, and fell into bed.

OOOOOOOOO

"So… what do you think?"

Janet watched as Cassie walked into the living room, and wasn't sure what to think. She looked absolutely beautiful, that was for certain, but there was far more skin showing than the mother in her preferred to see.

"You look great."

Cassie was immediately suspicious. All they'd done for the past week and a half was argue about the dress, and she was certain that her mother hadn't changed her mind so easily.

"But…?"

Janet shook her head, sighing silently.

"There is no '_but'_, Cass. You look beautiful in that dress. I do wish, however, that there was a bit more to it."

Which sure sounded like a great big fat _but_ to her.

"It's not that bad, mom."

She looked down at herself. There were no straps, true – and she loved that – but there was also very little cleavage showing, and the dress ended at mid thigh, or maybe just a little lower. It showed off Cassie's figure beautifully, but it didn't really _show_ anything.

Janet looked at it just as critically as Cassandra turned around so she could be zipped up, and the doctor smiled despite her misgivings. It _was_ a beautiful dress. And with Cassie's hair in and intricate tangle coming down over her shoulder, showed off the delicate chain and diamond pendant that Janet had given her that Christmas. She looked wonderful. It was just too bad that Janet wasn't going so she could keep an eye on things.

"How do I look?" Cassie asked, turning, and smoothing her hands along the dress.

"Beautiful."

She positively beamed, and looked at the clock on the wall. Ian would be there, soon. Cassie had spent way more time on her hair than she should have, but she'd had trouble deciding if she wanted to wear it up or down, and had decided that by wearing it down, it might give the illusion of having a little more covering – which would hopefully make her mom stop complaining about her dress.

"You remember the rules?"

Cassie rolled her eyes, but she was glad that they'd been brought up now, and not when Ian was there to listen.

"Yes. No drinking. No smoking. No leaving the dance with anyone else, and I'm to be home by 2AM."

"One."

"Mom…"

"Cassie. One."

"Fine."

"And…?"

"And…?"

"And I don't want you-"

She was interrupted by the doorbell ringing, and Cassie stifled an excited squeal. Yeah, she'd been to parties and even a couple of other dances, but not with Ian, and not dressed up like she was, now. She was finally an _adult_, and wearing an _adult_ dress, and going with an _adult_ instead of one of the boys from her school. God, she was so excited. She headed for the door, but Janet put her hand on her daughter's arm to stop her.

"I'll get it. You go get your sandals on."

Cassie looked down, and nodded. Shoes. Yeah, she'd need those. She vanished down the hall, with a definite bounce in her step, and Janet went to the door and opened it.

Ian's nap had done him a world of good, and he'd taken another shower – and had shaved – before getting dressed in his tux, taking extra care to make sure everything was shipshape. His haircut was perfect – since he'd had it done only that weekend – and even Janet couldn't help but be impressed by just how good he looked in his tuxedo when she opened the door. She smiled before she realized she was doing it, and was pleased to see that he looked just a little nervous.

"Good evening, Doctor Fraiser."

"Hello, Ian. Come on in."

Since he hadn't been sure that he was even going to be invited in – judging form the way she'd been acting with him the last week – Ian was almost surprised at the offer. He nodded, and stepped into the hallway, smiling down at Cassie's dog, who had come rushing up to see who was visiting, but he didn't lean over and pet him like he normally would have. In his hand he was holding a box with Cassie's corsage, and he didn't want to get dog hair or worse on himself.

"Is Cassie ready?" He asked as she closed the door behind him.

"Almost." Janet said. "Why don't you and I have a chat while we wait?"

Well, shit…

He wanted to just tell her that he wasn't going to do anything and he didn't need another lecture or anymore scowls and cold looks. Instead, he nodded.


	16. 16

Janet led Ian into the living room, and then turned on him, her face very serious, although she'd lost the hard coldness in her expression that he'd grown accustomed to the last week or so.

"I don't have to tell you that I expect you to be a gentleman this evening, do I?"

He shook his head.

"No."

"I don't want you pulling anything this evening, Ian," Janet said, continuing as if he hadn't spoken. "I don't want her drinking – you check the punch before you let her have any, because I know how people like to spike it at these things, and I don't-"

"I'll check it, Doctor Fraiser."

She scowled at the interruption. She didn't have all that much time for this, and she didn't want him stopping what had been a carefully prepared speech.

"I want her home by 1AM, no matter what she tells you – and I know that Sam's car was serviced just last month, so don't even bother with the whole car trouble line, do you understand?"

Jesus, what did she think he was going to do? Ian tried very hard to hide his annoyance; he understood that she was trying to look out for Cassie, but this was ridiculous.

"I'm not going to do anything."

"You'd better not," Fraiser told him, her hands on her hips. "Because I will find you and geld you if I find out you did."

It was a formidable threat, but really one that wasn't necessary.

Ian nodded, though.

"I won't do any-"

"Hi."

They both looked over at the sound of Cassie's voice, and Ian almost screwed it up right then and there.

"Holy shit…"

She looked… stunning. The dress was just amazing, and the figure that it cradled so perfectly was just as nice to look at. Cassie wasn't short and delicate – which was good, because Ian definitely preferred a slightly taller and well-filled out model – and Cassie had just the right amount of curves in just the right places. He'd just never seen them quite so well displayed before.

Janet scowled, giving him a sharp look, but Ian's eyes were only on Cassie, who blushed prettily at the obvious approval in Ian's expression. Approval that was a match for the appreciation Cassie had for just how good he looked in his tux. A blind person could see how well built he was, lean and perfectly formed and the tuxedo had been tailored to fit him perfectly, which showed off that frame so well that Cassie had actually had to catch her breath when she'd entered the living room before she could speak up.

Realizing his slip on the language, Ian frowned, although he ignored the look Fraiser gave him.

"You look gorgeous, Cassandra."

She smiled, delighted, and her blush deepened until it was a match for the red of her dress.

"Thanks. You do, too. I mean… you look beautiful. _Handsome_." She blushed again. Guys probably didn't like being called beautiful, but God… he _was_.

Janet scowled as she looked from one to the other. She wasn't actually finished with her warnings, but she couldn't really give the rest of them in front of Cassie – who would definitely not approve and would probably do something she didn't want her to – simply out of spite for being treated like a child. Instead, she cleared her throat, breaking the silence in the room that had fallen while the two admired each other so noticeably.

"Home by one."

Ian nodded, not taking his eyes from Cassie for another long moment.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"I mean it."

Now he did look over at her, because there was a definite hardness to her voice that brooked no disobedience. She wanted to make it clear to him that she wasn't joking, and wouldn't accept any reason for a delay.

"I know. We'll be here. I promise."

There. That should do it, right? He'd given her his word – and Ian had never broken a promise he made. Which was why he made so few, and only when he was certain he could follow through with it.

"You'd better be. I'd hate to have to send Teal'c out looking for you."

Ouch. There was another threat – and not at all veiled.

"Jeeze mom," Cassie said, walking over to stand beside Ian, who couldn't help but smile at her and notice just how good she smelled. "We're just going to a dance."

Janet scowled, but didn't say anything else.

While it was something of a tradition for a date to pin the corsage on the girl he was taking, Ian decided that discretion would be the better idea in this instance, and he took her corsage out of the box and handed it to her.

"You do look beautiful."

She accepted the small flowery decoration, and pinned it to her dress, taking care not to stick herself with the pin.

"Thank you."

He smiled, and they both turned to Janet – who was admitting to herself (privately) that they looked very good together.

"I'll have her home by one, Doctor Fraiser," he said. "And I'll take care of her."

"You do that."

She handed Cassie a heavy shawl that matched her dress perfectly and would keep her warm while still allowing the magnificence of the dress to show, and walked them to the door. Before she could threaten him again, Ian ushered Cassie out of the house as fast as was polite.

That hadn't really been too bad, he supposed. On the pretext that there might be ice on the sidewalk – which there _wasn't_ – he offered her his arm on the porch, and Cassie slid her hand through it, resting her palm lightly on his forearm, shivering with excitement. This was going to be the best night of her life.

As he opened the car door for her, Ian looked over and saw Janet still watching from the open door, but he didn't wave, figuring he'd just piss her off further. Instead, he made sure Cassie was in, shut the door and walked around to get behind the wheel.

"We have to stop by Sam and Jack's," Cassie said when he got in. "Sam wants to take pictures."

Ian nodded, and pulled out into the street.

"I know."

Another lecture to come, he was certain, and probably more threats – even more gruesome ones.

Tentatively, Cassie reached out and rested her hand lightly on Ian's thigh, and he looked over at her, and then smiled slightly as he covered her hand with his own.

Well, he could put up with a couple more threats, he supposed. She was worth that.


	17. 17

"Are you warm enough?"

Cassie nodded, her hand squeezing his thigh lightly in acknowledgment of the question. It was warm in the car, but not too warm – although she was definitely feeling an inner warmth that had nothing to do with the heater – and it wasn't something that would be able to just be turned off!

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Good."

And that was pretty much all that passed for small talk from Ian. The car fell silent as he drove. Cassie was used to this, however, and not at all offended or hurt. She knew he didn't like to make idle chatter, and while she usually did, it was an issue that she wouldn't press. Small talk was great, but if he didn't want to engage in it, she didn't mind. Especially since she had her hand on his thigh and his over it. That was better than all the weather talk in the world.

But then he surprised her.

"That dress is beautiful on you."

Cassie blushed. She loved the fact that he didn't say the dress was beautiful – which it _was_ – but qualified it by telling her it was beautiful because it was on _her_.

"Thanks. I think my mom hates it, but likes it at the same time."

Ian nodded and let go of her hand for just a moment, reaching out and brushing his fingers against the fabric that was covering her thigh. It was ilk of some sort, and felt very nice. Slinky.

Cassie felt a thrill go through her at the touch.

"I can understand why she wouldn't like it – but _I_ like it. Very much."

Again his hand moved, coming back over to cover hers on his leg, and Cassie wished he wasn't driving just then, because she would have loved to kiss him just then.

She smiled and returned the favor, running her hand along the fabric of his tuxedo pants.

"Is this yours? Or did you rent it?"

"It's a rental," Ian admitted. "I have one at home in New York, but it would have been more of a hassle to have my mother send it to me than to just rent one and get it tailored to fit."

"It looks good on you."

He smiled, pleased by the compliment.

"Thank you."

It wasn't that far to the O'Neill's, though, so before they could say much more than that, Ian was pulling Sam's convertible up into the driveway beside Jack's truck.

"Stay put," Ian told her as he got out. "I'll get your door."

Cassie smiled, and watched him walk around the car, and then open the door. Not only did he open the door for her, but he also offered her his hand to help her out of the car – perhaps noticing that the dress definitely restricted her movements in some ways. She took it, and a moment later the two of them were walking up the walk, Ian's hand resting lightly on the small of Cassie's back.

OOOOOO

"Oh, my God… you two look wonderful!"

Sam had met the two of them at the door, opening it before they'd even had a chance to knock. Neither of them had to ask how she knew they were coming, of course. Even if she hadn't heard them pull into the driveway, the big black lab sitting cheerfully beside her leg – carefully not jumping on them – was a sure give away.

Cassie beamed, her smile so big it encompassed her entire being.

"Thanks, Sam."

"That dress is gorgeous."

"I know!"

She laughed, and gave Ian a smile just for him, and then moved to the side.

"Come inside, and let us get a look at you."

Cassie went in first, followed by Ian and Sam, and she smiled when she saw Jack standing there in the living room, waiting. Her smile grew bigger when he saw her, because his reaction to her dress was almost the same as Ian's.

"Holy…"

"Hi, Jack."

She couldn't help but laugh, because he looked stunned. Of course, the expression in his brown eyes wasn't the same as Ian's had been. Where Ian had been admiring and flattering, Jack's was amazed and surprised.

She couldn't help but goad him just a little.

"Do you like my dress?"

Before he could answer, though, Ian came up behind Cassie, taking Jack's attention from all the skin showing.

"Hey, Jack."

"Ian. You look good."

He did look good – although that didn't surprise Jack, really. He turned back to Cassie, much to Sam's amusement.

"That's what you're wearing?"

"No, these are my pajamas."

Sam grinned.

Jack scowled.

"Cassie…"

"Jack. It's not showing anything. See?"

She took off the shawl, and posed, slightly, but taking off the shawl simply revealed just how much more skin was showing, and Sam saw Jack actually blanch. She stepped in before he could say anything.

"I'm going to go get the camera, you guys, then we'll get you on your way."

Jack's scowl deepened, and he looked at Ian, who was admiring Cassie's dress all over again. This time from the back. Which was a mistake.

"Cass? Why don't you help Sam find the camera? Ian can come take Jaffer out with me while we're waiting."

Which was his way of separating the two of them for a little talk, and everyone in the room knew it – including Jaffer, probably. It was inevitable and from the look in his eyes, there was only one answer to give. And Cassie knew it.

"Okay, Jack."

She gave Ian a slight smile – maybe to give him a little moral boost – and she and Sam went down the hall, leaving Jack and Ian alone with Jaffer.

"Let's go outside…"

Ian sighed inwardly, but nodded, following Jack and Jaffer to the back door and out onto the deck. Even with his astounding memory, he was losing track of the amount of lectures he was getting. Which annoyed him because they were all unnecessary.

OOOO

"He's not going to say anything bad, is he?" Cassie asked as she watched Sam looking through a closet for her camera.

"Probably," she said, looking over her shoulder at Cassie. "Your dress caught him off guard, and he doesn't like that."

"Can't you talk to him?"

She shook her head.

"I can, but it won't do any good right now." She pointed up at the top shelf. "Pull that down for me, will you, Cass? I can't stretch like I used to be able to."

Cassie reached up and took the camera down, and handed it to Sam, and the two of them walked back down the hall. Not at all surprising, Ian and Jack were both outside, and the sliding door was firmly closed telling both of them that Jack didn't want any more company than what he already had.


	18. 18

The two of them were silent for a full minute while they watched Jaffer running across the old snow in the back yard, a dark shadow moving against the shadows brought on by the fully set sun and the big tree in Jack's back yard. Ian was quiet, fairly certain that Jack was just trying to figure out exactly what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. Undoubtedly it would be a threat, or a bunch of them, thinly – or not so thinly – disguised as yet another lecture.

Finally, Jack spoke.

"That's quite a dress…"

Ian nodded.

"She looks good in it."

Jack scowled.

"You remember what we talked about?"

Of course he remembered. Even without the memory he had, how could he forget?

"No drinking, no smoking, no drugs, or quiet walks or slow dances…" Ian said, saying them in the exact order that Jack had given him that morning. Jack recognized it as well, and his scowl deepened. He wasn't sure if Ian was being sarcastic or not, and he didn't like that.

"You remember what I said about that dress?"

"You want it to stay on her," Ian told him. "Do _you_ remember what I told you, Jack?"

Of course he did. Jack's memory wasn't as sharp as Ian's, but he knew what Ian had told him – he just didn't like his own questioning turned on him. Ian didn't even give him a chance to answer. A sure sign that he was getting fed up with the whole lecture scene – and he'd been far more patient than he normally was.

"I told you it would. I told you that I wasn't going to do anything, and I'll say it again. I'm not going to do anything. So spare me another lecture, okay? I've had enough of them for the day – and enough dirty looks to last me a _lifetime_."

Without waiting for an answer, Ian turned and went back into the house, leaving Jack staring at his retreating back, unsure whether to go after him and keep him from going inside so he could finish the lecture, or to just let him go. Jaffer came rushing up just then, shoving his nose into Jack's hand and drawing his attention to himself and away from Ian.

Distracted, Jack scratched Jaffer's neck and shoulder, the decision already made for him as the glass door slid shut behind Ian.

"Damn it."

He scowled, and then headed for the door, Jaffer walking cheerfully beside him.

OOOOOOOO

Cassie and Sam both looked over when Ian walked in, closing the door behind him and looking annoyed, but not cowed. When he saw Sam and Cassie both watching him, he lost the annoyed look – although there was still a little of it lingered in his dark eyes, Sam noticed. Ian wasn't all that great at hiding his feelings, and they all knew it.

"You okay?" Sam asked, giving him a sympathetic smile. She'd known Ian was in for a rough day – which was why she'd warned him – but she had no idea how rough it had been, and she knew it.

He nodded. Aside from feeling like shit, and feeling like the whole world was turning on him – although it'd really only been _Jack_, since he knew Janet Fraiser hadn't liked him to start with – he was great. Just fucking ducky.

"Fine."

He even managed to give her a smile, one that almost reached his eyes. A sure sign that he was trying to be cheerful against all the odds. Then Cassie came over to stand beside him, putting her hand in his, and Sam saw the tenseness in Ian's expression soften a bit.

The door opened again, and Jack and Jaffer came in, Jack looking just as annoyed as Ian had – which surprised Sam and made her wonder what Ian had said to Jack. He saw Sam watching him, and like Ian had, he schooled his features to mask his irritation – and he was a lot better at it than the cadet was. Only if you knew him well could you see the tenseness in his expression, and his brown eyes didn't sparkle with good humor like they normally did when Cassie was over.

"Are we ready for some pictures?" Sam asked, reaching out and touching Jack's arm, briefly. He turned to her, and wrapped an arm around her, hugging her close for just a moment before nodding.

"Yeah. Let's get them taken and get these two on their way."

The sooner they left, the sooner they'd be done with the dance and the night would be over and things could go back to normal.

Sam smiled, well aware of what he was thinking, and then looked around, trying to decide where to position the happy couple for their pictures. She eventually put them in front of a plain white wall, and snapped several pictures – of Ian and Cassie, then Ian alone, then Cassie alone, then with Cassie and Jack, who even managed a sincere smile as he wrapped his arms around the teenager. Finally, she handed Jack the camera, and had a couple of pictures taken of her with Cassie, and then her with Ian, putting her arm around his lean waist and wishing she wasn't quite so top-heavy – although Ian assured her that she looked lovely, and would probably be glad to have the reminder of when she'd been pregnant. Even if it included him in the picture. She'd smiled, and was glad to see that the picture taking had managed to ease the tension in the room and that Jack and Ian were both smiling freely by the time she finally put the camera away and shooed Cassie and Ian out the door, admonishing them to have a wonderful time and not stay out too late.

When the door closed, Sam turned to Jack, who was leaning against the back of the sofa.

"They look wonderful."

He scowled, but had to nod his agreement, and even the scowl couldn't survive when Sam walked over and pressed against him, clearly wanting to be held. He wrapped his arms around her more than willingly, and rested his head on her shoulder.

"When did she get _curves_?"

OOOOOOOO

"That wasn't so bad…"

Ian didn't say anything in response as he backed the car out of the driveway and headed into what little traffic there was. He was wondering to himself if Jack was going to eventually make him pay for walking out of the lecture like he had.

Cassie sighed, to herself, knowing that while it hadn't been that bad, it had ruined the moment between them, and she wasn't sure whether to be angry or to cry.

"Ian?"

He turned his head to look at her for a moment before turning back to watch the road.

"Yeah?"

"Don't be mad… please?"

He sighed, and shook his head, reaching out and resting his right hand lightly on her thigh – although low enough that it couldn't be construed as a 'move'.

"I'm not mad, Cassandra," he told her. She knew he was lying, but she was glad for the lie, and even gladder when he took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the palm reassuringly before bringing her hand back down onto his thigh and pinning it there. "It's your night, sweetheart. I'm not going to let anyone ruin it."

She smiled, at the kiss, the promise, and the fact that he'd called her sweetheart – the first ever term of endearment he'd used with her – and the mood in the car lightened considerably as they headed for the convention center, where the dance was being held.


	19. 19

_Author's Note: Fraiser's still dating Emmett. I meant to mention that he was out of town (doing some kind of journalism thing) I just forgot to. Otherwise he would have been giving Ian the 9th degree, too, and I figured that would probably be pushing things a bit._

OOOOOOOO

The Senior Formal was scheduled to run from 7PM to Midnight. Because of the long delay with lectures and stopping to get a million pictures taken Ian and Cassie were late arriving, but Cassie assured him when he parked the car that she didn't mind a bit.

She didn't, either. She couldn't help but be excited and a bit smug at the thought of walking into a crowded room on Ian's arm. The girls were going to be so jealous, she just knew it. She didn't tell him that, of course, well aware that it would make him seem like a trophy date to Cassie – which wasn't the case at all – but it would either hurt his feelings or make him angry, and she didn't want to do either. She didn't yet know exactly what kind of feelings Ian held for her, but Cassie knew exactly what she felt for him. She was completely in love with him – and it _wasn't_ just a crush like her mother said it was.

They ended up parking a goodly distance away form the main entrance, but neither of them minded. Ian offered to drop her off and then go park by the door, but since she wasn't wearing stiletto heels – although she'd wanted to – she told him she'd walk with him and keep him company. And had seen him smile slightly at the offer, which made her feel gooey inside, because she knew that meant that he did want to spend time with her.

With her shawl wrapped around her, and his arm supporting her lightly, the two of them walked along the sidewalk with a few other straggling pairs, although Ian didn't stop to make idle conversation and Cassie didn't ask him to. She could talk to anyone she wanted to inside, where it was warmer, and where she could see them a little better.

They were stopped at the door for just a moment, while a security guard checked to make sure that they weren't bringing in anything that wasn't allowed; weapons, drugs and alcohol to be precise, but anything else that might pose a danger to their charges were also confiscated. Since Cassie didn't have room in her dress for anything but her, and Ian wasn't carrying anything but his wallet in an inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket, they were passed fairly quickly, and walked into the dance.

The room was beautifully decorated in silver and red with a definite Valentine's Day motif, streamers hearts and little cupids all over the place. Cassie looked around with delight, her hand tightening on Ian's arm.

"Isn't it _pretty_?"

He tried to act impressed, but it was clearly decorated for the females in the crowd, and Ian had trouble being enthusiastic about it.

"It's... nice," he finally said, unable to come up with a better compliment.

Cassie smiled; he wasn't fooling her at all, but she didn't mind that he wasn't as excited as she was.

"It's wonderful."

He smiled at her and put his arm around her waist, guiding her to the side of the room and out of the way, wondering if she'd want to dance first or go find friends to talk to – which would probably leave him sitting at one of the many small tables alone. He didn't even get a chance to ask her.

"Cassie!"

A squeal of excitement drew both of their attentions to the right, where two of Cassie's friends were converging on them, dragging a couple of good looking young men behind them. Cassie squealed just as happily, and Ian couldn't help but smile as she stepped out of his arm and went up to them to give them hugs.

"You guys look great!" She said, as Ian watched.

"I can't believe that _dress_!" Crystal told her, admiring it, but only for a moment. Not only could she not believe the dress, but she couldn't believe Cassie's date, even though she'd seen him before. Ian Brooks was far better looking in a tuxedo than he was in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, and the last time she'd seen him at the movie theater, he'd been scowling – and now he wasn't, and oh God, was he _beautiful_.

"You're Ian, right?" Her friend Angela asked before Crystal or Cassie could say anything. "You were at the movies on Thanksgiving."

Ian nodded, and Angela held out her hand.

"I'm Angela."

Ian shook her hand for a moment, and then was introduced to Crystal as well, although it wasn't really necessary. He'd remembered both of their names. Then he was introduced to their dates, who both held out their hands to shake his, without – Ian was surprised to see – the customary testing of grips that he'd become so used to in dealing with high school guys. Hell, he'd done it a time or two when he was younger.

Both of these guys – named Frank and Rad – were friendly enough, and it was a relief to Ian, especially since they could have been bastards about the fact that both of their dates were staring at him and not them.

Maybe it wasn't going to be such a bad night, after all.

OOOOOOOOO

The six of them moved into the main body of the dance, claiming one of the larger tables for themselves, but they'd barely settled in before the band finished one set and started on another; this one slow and easy.

"Let's dance," Crystal told Rad, who sighed, and stood up – obviously not looking forward to dancing, but willing to do it because it was what his date wanted. Ian looked over at Cassie, who was looking at him, hopefully, and he stood up and offered her his hand.

"Dance, Cassandra?"

She beamed as she took his hand, and as he led her out onto the floor, she wasn't even aware of the people that were watching them. She turned to face him, and Ian smiled at her, brushing his hand along her cheek before he took her in his arms and leading her into the first steps of the dance.

Cassie wasn't a great dancer. She never had been, although she wasn't a klutz, either. She'd been given a few lessons from Sam – using Jack as a partner – and Sam had been taught by Gina, who's mother was a professional. She felt competent enough to allow him to lead her around, although she was a little nervous that she'd step on his feet or something. But she needn't have worried.

Ian _was_ a good dancer. Better than good, he was extremely good – although it was a talent he didn't share with anyone if he could avoid it. He _had_ to be, after all, with his mother being who she was. His talent more than made up for Cassie's nervousness and the two of them moved so smoothly together that no one would have even noticed that Cassie was a little tense.

He smiled, more than close enough to her to feel when she finally started to relax in his arms, and his hand tightened its grip on the small of her back just a little in response.

"You're doing great," he murmured.

She beamed.


	20. 20

"He's _got_ to be gay… no one is that hot and not gay…"

"God, I hope he isn't…"

"Me, too."

Ian was the subject of several conversations that evening. None of them to his face and all of them speculative. Of course, where the girls at the dance were discussing Ian, they needn't have feared their dates getting jealous, because most of the guys at the dance had trouble taking their eyes off Cassie – amazed at the transformation from a girl who wasn't too bad looking but had seemed a little tomboy-ish to them into what could only be considered a very hot babe.

"She's not leaving much to the imagination, is she?"

"Oh, yeah, she is… I can imagine quite a bit…"

"Wonder if he'd let me cut in for a dance…"

"I don't think so…"

Actually, after the first couple of dances, Ian and Cassie had both found themselves as much sought after dance partners. The first time they'd gone back to the table, Cassie flushed with happiness at the wonderful dance she'd just shared with him, Rad had asked her if she'd dance with him, while Ian took Crystal for a spin. Since the dance was a slightly faster one that wouldn't require a lot of physical contact – Ian wasn't about to hold anyone like he'd been holding Cassie – he'd looked over at her, his dark eyes telling her that if she wanted to dance with someone else, he wouldn't mind, as long as she remembered who she was dancing with when the evening ended.

Cassie had smiled and nodded, taking Rad's hand – she'd known him since junior high, after all, and was a good friend of his – and Crystal had eagerly given Ian hers, allowing him to lead her out into the fast-moving dance.

Crystal, Ian discovered, was a much better dancer than Cassie. She knew the dances well, and he didn't have to worry about her losing her footing while he twirled and spun her, and she was plainly delighted to be partnered with someone who was a better dancer than herself – something she didn't find all that often. But no matter how much he enjoyed taking her for a spin on the dance floor – and Cassie had enjoyed her dance with Rad – the two of them were both more than happy when it ended and they were back at the table, sitting beside each other with her hand in his while they took a short break to catch their breath.

"Where did you learn to dance like that, Ian?" Angela had asked.

Ian had simply said his mother taught him, but Cassie couldn't help share a little more of his background than that, her eyes twinkling in good humor as he blushed while she told her friends all about his famous mother – who none of them had really heard of, not being one of the dance scene. But the story spread among the dancers that night, because something that interesting always was, and several people in the group – mostly teachers and chaperones – _had_ heard of her, and they all stopped long enough to at least tell him hello in between dances.

After the first couple of times, though, Ian stopped dancing with anyone but Cassie, and she opted to stick with just him. Ian didn't like the way the girls were beginning to hang around him, waiting for him to mention he wanted to dance – although Cassie was more than amused by it – so he simply stopped dancing with anyone but Cass. When she realized what he was doing, she did the same, and limited herself strictly to dancing with him – although he told her if she wanted to dance with others, he wasn't going to be upset. He wasn't sure if it was all the dancing, or the heat of all the bodies in the room, but he was beginning to feel a little warm, and he sat out a few dances to give himself a breather.

Cassie sat them out with him, though, more than willing to sit at the table and drink punch while holding his hand – which she was doing almost constantly now.

All in all, it was about as perfect an evening as Cassie could have ever hoped for, and she was very sorry when the band finally announced that they were going to do only one more number.

Ian took Cassie's hand with a slight smile, his eyes only for her, and he led her out onto the floor for a last dance of the evening. A slow one.

She put her arms around him, easily, now far more comfortable in his arms than she had been when the evening began. She'd learned she could trust him, now, to keep her from tripping up, and knew, now, that he'd never let her fail or fall. Her cheek came down to rest on his shoulder as she closed her eyes, the two of them pressed lightly against each other and his hands resting tenderly just above her hips as they danced. He'd enjoyed the evening far more than he'd expected he would, and was very glad now that the others had convinced him to take her.

He felt her move her head on his shoulder, then, and suddenly felt her lips against his neck. A kiss that was far more of a lover's kiss than even the few they'd shared that evening. He shivered at the touch, unable to help himself, and Cassie had felt it, and smiled. She'd made a few decisions of her own that evening – without mentioning them to him, of course – and all she'd needed was an affirmation of his feelings for her. And that shiver seemed to her to be all the evidence that she'd needed.

He looked down at her, his dark eyes warmer than she'd ever seen them, and Cassie wrapped her arms around him, tightly, hugging him.

Unsure what had brought that on, but willing to hold her tight if that was what she wanted – and she certainly _seemed_ to want to be held – Ian's arms tightened around her as well, and the rest of the dance was more of a cuddle-fest than any actual movement.

When the dance ended, Ian led her back to their table so she could collect her shawl, and they could say goodbye to the others.

"We missed our reservation," he told her once he'd shaken hands with Frank and Rad – whose full name was Radclift, he now knew – and had said goodbye to Cassie's girlfriends.

Anticipating that he was going to have a less than fun time at the dance, he'd actually made the dinner reservations for 11, figuring that that would give him reason and excuse for them to leave early. Since he hadn't wanted the escape, he'd completely ignored when 11 had come and gone, especially since he'd been dancing at the time.

"That's okay," Cassie told him, smiling as she put her shawl over her shoulders and then took his arm. "_You_ can make me dinner."

"What?"

Her smile broadened.

"Sandwiches and milk or soda – something easy," she assured him. "I haven't seen your new place and I'd like to see what you've done with it."

Ian frowned; thinking immediately that it would be a very bad idea for him to take her back to his place – even worse if Jack or Fraiser heard about it.

"I don't think-"

"Please, Ian?"

"Cass-"

"I'll make the sandwiches…"

"It's a bad ide-"

"Only for a little bit… I just want to see what it looks like, now that Daniel doesn't live there…"

"You can come see it in the-"

"Ian…" she gave him a look that turned his insides into goo. "Please?"

He sighed, realizing for the first time that somehow she'd managed to wrap him around her finger. He wasn't sure if that was bad or good.

"Okay…"


	21. 21

_Author's Note: Okay, parents… read this one **before** you let the kids read it._

OOOOOOOOOO

"We can't stay long," Ian warned her as he opened the door to his apartment. He'd checked his watch on the way, and it was just a little after midnight – and he had to get her home by one.

Cassie nodded, looking suddenly nervous, and she looked around his place as she took off her shawl. Really, not much had been changed. Daniel and Sally hadn't needed any of Daniel's furniture in Sally's house, so he'd left all that for Ian, and the shelves of books were still where they'd been – with a few spaces that had held books Daniel couldn't live without and had taken with him. Even the fish were still there, and Cassie walked over to look in the tank for a moment before giving him a smile.

"It's so clean."

Ian nodded.

"So I've been told."

"Are you always this tidy?"

"Yeah." He walked into the kitchen and opened up the fridge, looking for something for them to eat, and Cassie hesitated and then came up behind him, her hand coming out and sliding along his side from behind – which startled Ian.

She jerked her hand back when he jumped, and flashed him a nervous smile.

"Sorry."

"It's okay." He frowned. "Are you all right? You look a little pale."

Cassie shook her head.

"I'm fine."

He didn't look convinced, but he really didn't have a lot of time to pursue the matter.

"I don't have any bread, so we can't have sandwiches… but I can make us some nachos or something…"

Cassie shrugged.

"Or… we could… do something else… besides eat…"

"You're not hungry?"

She blushed, and he wondered what in the world was wrong with her all of the sudden.

"I have something else in mind, Ian," Cassie told him, looking down at the floor and then over at the fish tank and pretty much everywhere but at _him_.

That was the first hint he had that the two of them weren't on the same page as to how the evening was going to end. The second one was even more blatant. Before Ian could say anything, Cassie had reached behind her and unzipped her dress. A moment later – and a movement to go with that moment – and the thing had fallen to the floor at her feet, leaving her in a slip that started at her hips, whatever she was wearing under the slip, and nothing else.

Ian froze. Even his mind – so agile and quick – hadn't expected this, and he was stunned. Not so stunned that he didn't get a great look at her naked chest, but stunned enough that he didn't even register what he was seeing beyond the dropped dress that was a pile of crimson at her feet.

"Cassie…"

"Ian…" she was blushing a brilliant red, and it was spreading, but she didn't even move to cover herself. "I want you to make love to me."

"Oh, no…" he murmured, shaking his head and still staring at her.

She nodded.

"I-"

"Cassie. You need to get _dressed_. _Now_."

"No, Ian. I want… I want you to-"

"No."

Jesus, did she have any idea what the fuck she was _doing_ to him? He shook his head, again, reminding himself that he'd given Jack his word that nothing was going to happen – and that Fraiser was going to _kill_ him if anything did.

"Ian-"

He lost his temper. Far more quickly than he'd ever lost it before – and he'd _never_ lost it with Cassie. But what she was doing was so wrong that he couldn't believe she'd even _considered_ it. She _knew_ the shit he'd been putting up with for agreeing to take her – just to the _dance_, for Christ's sake, and she knew the glares and lectures and all that other crap he was getting, and she goes and pulls a stunt like _this_? Or maybe it was the whole, you always hurt the one you love thing, only this time it was you always anger that person by doing something that there was no way they could follow through with...?

"God damn it, Cassie. Get dressed, _now_."

"But-"

"_Now_!"

There was no softness in his dark eyes, now, Cassie saw. Only anger and disbelief. A lot of anger. They were cold, and it stung her to the very quick to see it directed at her. Couldn't he _see_ what she was offering him? What she wanted from him? To give to him?

Tears of hurt and embarrassment were welling in her eyes as she bent to pull up her dress, and she didn't look at him as she reached and tried to zip it up. She couldn't get it all the way up – her hands and fingers were suddenly and inexplicably numb – but she got it up enough that it'd stay up.

"I can't _believe_ you," Ian growled, walking into the living room and picking up her shawl. "Do you have _any_ idea what your mother-"

"You're afraid of my mother?"

"I promised her nothing would happen, God damn it! I _swore_ to her that I wouldn't do anything, and then I turned around and said the exact same thing to _Jack_, and here _you_ are tricking me into bringing you here so-"

"I didn't _trick_ you-"

"You said you-"

"I want you to-"

"I know what you _want_," he snarled, his temper so out of control just then that he knew he was about to say something he absolutely didn't mean, and he still couldn't help himself. "But contrary to popular belief, my brain _isn't_ in my pants, and I'm smart enough to know that the absolute _last_ person I should be having sex with is you."

He tossed her the shawl, and she didn't catch it, but it draped over her shoulder anyways.

"I'm taking you home."

She shook her head, tears running down her cheek and smearing her makeup.

"I don't want you to. I'll walk."

Like she wanted to be in the car with him after hearing just what he thought of her? Her breath caught in a sob at the thought, and she stifled it as well as she could, wiping her nose on her shawl.

"Like _hell_ you will. Someone sees you dressed like that and they'll think you're the skank you're acting like."

Oh yeah, he still didn't have control of his mouth, and he could see that that one had _hurt_. But he didn't care – at least not _then_. Although a little corner of his mind told him that he was going to be sorry when he'd had a chance to think this through.

She recoiled almost as if he'd slapped her, and started for the door, but Ian stepped in front of it, holding it closed.

"You have two options: _I'll_ take you home, or I'll call your mom to come get you."

Option number two would get him killed, but if she was going to refuse to get in the car with him, then he had to call Fraiser. There was no way he'd let her go anywhere alone, not dressed like she was, and not as upset as she was.

The last thing Cassie wanted was for her mother to come collect her. Then she'd have to tell Janet exactly why she was there, and what she'd done, and that wasn't going to happen. Not tonight. Not _ever_. She reached for the doorknob, but Ian's hand was on it, and there was no give as she tried to make him move it. Blinded by the tears in her eyes, and dumb with anger, hurt and shock at just how terrible the evening had turned, Cassie finally nodded.

"_Fine_. Take me home."

She didn't have any other choice…


	22. 22

He kept his hand in hers as he walked her to the car. Not, Cassie knew, because he wanted to hold her hand – like it had been earlier – but because he was going to make sure she didn't bolt on him. She, of course, had no such intention. Dumb with shock, and sobbing silently, she wouldn't have had a clue which way home even was just then. Besides, she knew he'd just get mad at her all over again if he had to go running after her and stuff her in the car.

He opened the door of the convertible and put her in without saying a word, made sure her feet were out of the way and then slammed the door with far more force than was necessary to make sure it latched. Then he walked around and got in behind the wheel, not even looking at her as he started the engine and headed for her house.

They drove in almost complete silence. The only sound in the car were Cassie's sobs, which were broken as she tried to stifle them, and although he knew that he had been hard on her and that his temper had made him say things that he hadn't meant, Ian was still so angry with her that he didn't even try to comfort her. It was all he could do to keep from speeding – which was another thing he was prone to doing when he was angry – and keeping his eyes and attention on the road in front of him and not on the girl beside him.

It was a relief to both of them when he pulled up to her house – with 15 minutes to spare before her 1AM deadline. Which meant they'd never have made it back on time if Ian had finished what Cassie had tried to start – yet another reason Fraiser would have been pissed off at him – although the cadet wasn't sure how he was going to explain to Janet what was wrong with Cassie.

"You don't _need_ to walk me up," Cassie stuttered as he came to a stop. "I know the way…"

Before he could say anything, she opened the car and lunged out of it, the shawl catching on the seatbelt latch and holding fast, almost choking her. She didn't even try to untangle it, instead just leaving it where it was, half in the car and half out, and slamming the door behind her and heading up the sidewalk without a backward glance.

Ian wasn't angry enough to leave her without making sure she was safely in the house, but the moment he saw her try the front door and open it and vanish inside, he put the car in gear. He'd bring her shawl to the SGC the next morning and Fraiser could deliver it Cassie. There was no fucking way he'd go to the door right then.

OOOOOOOO

Janet Fraiser turned to look at the clock the moment she heard the door slam right outside and saw Cassie's dog run towards the door – a sure sign that she was home. 12:45. Well, she had to admit that she was pleased and surprised that Ian had kept his word about getting her home on time, and she was suddenly a little worried at the reception she was going to get when Cassie opened the door and saw her sitting on the couch, reading a medical textbook but obviously waiting up for her.

She needn't have worried, though. The door opened long before Janet had really expected it to – she'd expected Ian was going to try a good night kiss on the front porch – maybe even a long, lingering one – and that she was going to have to pry him off her daughter and send him on his way. Instead, Cassie came through the door, and Janet had a glance at a tear-streaked face with smeared makeup and slightly wild eyes, and then a good look at Cassie's back as she stalked right past her mother – probably not even seeing her – and headed for her room. The look was all Janet needed. She wasn't wearing her shawl, and her zipper was only ¾ of the way up – and Janet knew damned sure that it had been all the way up when she'd left that evening, because she'd zipped it herself.

"Cass?"

She lunged to her feet, but before she got to the bedroom door it was slammed closed.

"Cass?"

She knocked on the door, but all she could hear was muffled crying.

"Cass!"

She tried the knob, but it was locked, and there was no give.

"Open up, Cassie."

"No! Go away!"

Her daughter's voice sounded broken hearted, and Janet wanted nothing more than to get in there and see what had happened – although she was quickly jumping to her own conclusions based on the evidence she'd had.

"Cassie-"

She only heard sobs. Torn between wanting to go straight to Ian and throttle him and the knowledge that there was no way she could leave her daughter home alone in the state she was in, Fraiser knocked on the door, again.

"What did he _do_?"

"Nothing!"

Now there was a definite wail of hurt and anguish, and Janet's scowl grew as she kept knocking on the door. She'd get her to open up, eventually, she always had. And then she'd find out what had happened. And then… Ian Brooks was going to pay.

OOOOOOOOO

Ian drove aimlessly for a long time, his mind mulling over what had happened and how things had gone from very nice to FUBAR in only moments, and cussing her left and right as he vented his frustration and anger at Cassandra safely, now that she was out of the car and away from him.

What had she been thinking? Jesus, she _hadn't_ been, that was for sure. Otherwise she'd never had pulled a stunt like that. He wondered if the punch had been spiked and he'd just missed it – although true to his promise to Janet, he'd actually tasted it before handing any to Cassie, just to make sure.

Then he wondered what he was going to tell Janet Fraiser, who was almost certainly waiting up to make sure he'd gotten her daughter home on time like she'd told him to and was now almost certainly trying to pry the tale out of Cassie – and God only knew what she was going to tell her.

He debated going back, but knew he couldn't. He debated running over to Jack and Sam's, just to see if they'd been called, and to see if he could give them the version of events as they'd actually happened, but there were two things wrong with that. One, he couldn't just go running to Jack and Sam. They had worries of their own and didn't need to play nursemaid to him. And two, he couldn't bring himself to even think about telling someone else what had happened.

Cassie had done something way out of character for her, and there was no way he was going to disgrace her by telling anyone what had happened. Not Jack. Not Janet. Not even Sam. He'd protected her innocence that night – whether she'd wanted him to or not – and there wasn't a chance in hell that someone would get him to betray her character. Not even as mad as he was.

Finally, he sighed, and pulled the car back into the parking space at the apartment. It was very late – or rather early, depending on how you looked at things – and he wasn't going to get much sleep before he had to go to the SGC in the morning.

It was even worse than he'd thought, because after he'd stripped and gone to bed, he lay awake a long time, and then when he'd finally drifted off, his dreams were weird and his sleep was restless.


	23. 23

Janet was frustrated. Frustrated and _furious_, to be exact. Cassie hadn't let her into her room the night before, no matter how many times she'd told her to, and had simply said she was tired and was going to go to sleep. Realizing she wasn't going to learn anything until Cassie had calmed down – presumably after a good night's sleep – she'd gone to bed as well, but hadn't slept well, and she'd woken up early anxious for a chance to get inside Cassie's head to see what was going on.

Which hadn't worked.

Cassie had come out of her room, looking tired and haggard and completely unwilling to answer any questions about what was wrong. No matter how much Janet pressed, Cassie clammed up, until she finally went back into her bedroom, telling her mother nothing was wrong and she should just go to work and not worry about her. Which was so obviously a lie that Janet was ready to scream.

So… since Cassie wasn't talking, that left Ian, and Janet went in to the SGC that morning more than ready to bully him in to telling her what had happened the night before to upset Cassie so much. And found that Ian wasn't even _there_. Holing herself up in her office because she didn't trust herself to be civil to any of her staff or friends just then, Janet called the main gate and asked them to call her and inform her when Ian Brooks came through the gate.

OOOOOOOOOO

When he arrived at the SGC late the next morning he was still showing the signs of his restless night, although by then he'd regained his equilibrium enough to know that he'd really screwed up the night before. As he'd dragged himself out of bed when the alarm went off at 6, he'd started thinking about other ways he could have handled things, but really, he couldn't come up with anything.

Not because there _weren't_ other things he could have done, but because he was having trouble focusing n pretty much anything. He was tired, and he ached, and his head was pounding like a drum. He'd assumed it was because of the stress of the events of the night before – or maybe he'd managed to catch a cold from being rained on all week – but whatever it was, it was making him miserable, and he was definitely dragging when he showed up for work.

He parked the car and headed into the mountain, carrying a file folder in one hand and a bottle of aspirin in the other. He passed the security checkpoints one at a time, putting up with jokes from the Marines about the dangers of showing up to work hung-over, and ignored them all on his way to the elevator. God, he felt like shit.

And then it got worse.

Ian had barely left the elevator when he found himself suddenly accosted by one very pissed off doctor.

"Where the _hell_ have you been?"

"What?"

"You're _supposed_ to be on this base at 0800."

She knew. She'd double-checked. And she was pissed that he hadn't been there on time, because _she_ certainly had been. "Let me guess… you were so tired from doing _whatever the hell_ you were doing with my daughter last night that you slept clean through your alarm."

Ian scowled. Really, he'd expected this, but he wasn't in the mood for her, and that was the truth.

"If you must know, I was at the Air Force academy picking up my assignments for last week and handing in the ones for this week, Doctor Fraiser." He held up the file folder in his hand, and turned to go.

It wasn't the right answer.

Fraiser, of course, wasn't done with him, and she reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"What happened between you and Cassie last night?"

Ian looked down at his arm, and then at her, but before he could say anything, Sam and Jack came around the corner and froze at the very unlikely sight.

"Janet?"

"What's going on, Doc?"

Fraiser didn't care who knew. She wasn't going to protect the cadet from whatever it was he'd done, after all.

"That's what I'm trying to find _out_, Colonel. Cassie came home last night in tears, her makeup smeared and messed up and her dress completely skewed. _She_ won't tell me what happened, so I-"

"Ian?"

Jack had heard more than enough, and had turned to look at the cadet, who was pale.

Ian jerked his arm free of Fraiser's grip, and looked over at Jack.

"_Nothing_ happened, Jack." He said. "It was a misunderstanding, that's-"

It was Jack's turn to grab Ian this time, and he did, reaching out and catching the cadet by the back of the light jacket he'd been wearing.

"You come with me."

"Jack…" Sam's voice was definitely concerned, but Jack turned and gave her a look that said he wasn't going to listen to her just then. Ian had a nasty temper, but even his was put to the test when compared with Jack's when he thought someone might have done something wrong to one of his own.

"We'll be back, Sam."

He didn't wait for her to answer, because he didn't want her to try and talk to him just then. Instead, he headed for his office, almost dragging Ian, who might have been able to put up more of a struggle if he hadn't been so surprised by the sudden turn of events, felt so shitty, and was holding the paperwork that he really couldn't afford to drop.

"Jack…"

"You be quiet."

A moment later the two of them were going through the door to Jack's office, and Jack had locked the door behind them, and had then turned to Ian, his arms crossed over his chest and his expression hard.

"Okay. You tell me, now. What happened last night?"

Ian shook his head.

"Nothing."

"You're lying to me."

Ian was a terrible liar, and Jack knew it. He could see it in the cadet's expression.

"It was…"

What could he say? _Well, Jack… it's like this… Cassie tricked me into taking her back to my place where she suddenly dropped her dress and tried to seduce me… but I told her no…?_ Yeah, like he'd believe that. Even if Ian had any intention of saying anything like that, since it would undoubtedly hurt Cassie – something he'd already done enough of.

"What?" Jack pressed.

"A _misunderstanding_."

Jack scowled.

"What _kind_ of misunderstanding…?"

Ian hesitated.

"Did the _dress_ _stay on_?" Jack asked, deciding that he wasn't going to wait and give Ian a chance to come up with a lie.

Again Ian hesitated, and Jack knew immediately that the cadet was debating whether to lie or not – he knew, after all that Jack could tell when he was lying. Which meant there was only one answer. And it was the _wrong_ one.

"You sonofa_bitch_."


	24. 24

"It's not like that, Jack," Ian said, knowing he was damning himself and unable to do anything to help it.

"Then tell me what it _is_ like."

Ian hesitated. It was his chance to explain everything. To make sure that Jack – and _Sam_, ultimately – knew that he wasn't the bastard that Jack was certain he was, now. But it would have been the wrong thing to do, and he couldn't bring himself to disgrace Cassie just to save his own hide.

"I… _can't_… you just have to trust me that-"

"Let me guess. The dress _fell_ off?"

Jack's eyes were flashing anger, and Ian knew that there was nothing he could say. But he had to try.

"It was a misundersta-"

"Misunderstanding my _ass_. I _told_ you what I expected of you, and you gave me your word that you'd-"

"I didn't _touch_ her, God damn it!" Ian shouted, his own temper flaring. "I _told_ you I wouldn't and I-"

_"SG-1 report to the briefing room…"_

The announcement stopped Ian in mid yell, and made Jack scowl.

"Jack… you have-"

"_Colonel_," Jack corrected him, his eyes cold and flat. "Don't ever forget that, _Cadet_."

Ian felt like someone had kicked him in the stomach, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he headed for the door, unlocking it.

"We're not done here, _Cadet_."

"Go fuck yourself, _Colonel_."

He pulled opened the door, and almost ran into Sam, who was just reaching for the doorknob, undoubtedly to make sure Jack hadn't killed Ian so they would both be able to report to briefing.

"Sorry, Sam."

"Ian…"

She turned and watched as he stalked past her, every muscle of his body seeming to be tense, and then turned to look at Jack, who was just as angry.

"What did you say to him?"

"Nothing."

"Did you-"

"Do you _know_ what he did?" Jack interrupted.

"No. And neither does Janet. Did he tell _you_ something he didn't tell her?"

Jack scowled, and headed for the door as well, brushing past Sam and heading for the briefing room without answering her. Ian hadn't told him _anything_, but he didn't have to. Jack wasn't stupid. He could figure it all out on his own.

Sam watched him go, dismayed by the sudden turn of events and knowing full well that Jack was making assumptions that he shouldn't. Unsure, though, what to do about it – at least for the moment – Sam went the same direction he had. She didn't need to sit in on the briefing, but given the way things were going just then, it wouldn't be a bad idea.

OOOOOOOO

Everyone else was waiting in the briefing room when Ian got there – sans Jack, of course. Jaffer had been out with Teal'c and Jack (the dog) for a quick run to get rid of some energy before settling into a briefing, and the big lab wagged his tail cheerfully at Ian when the Cadet came into the room and took the seat next to Daniel.

"You look awful," Daniel said, looking him over. "Are you feeling-"

"Where's Colonel O'Neill?" Hammond asked.

"He's on his way, Sir," Ian said, running his hand along Jaffer's shoulder when the lab came over to mooch a little loving.

"Are you all right, Cadet?" Hammond asked. "You look-"

He was interrupted by the arrival of Jack, who was still wearing a thunderous scowl. He glanced at Ian and then took the seat next to Teal'c, who looked at Jack and then over at Ian. A blind man could have seen the tension between the two, and it didn't take a genius to realize something had happened.

"Is everything all right, Colonel?" Hammond asked.

"Fine, Sir."

Hammond frowned, and looked at Ian, silently asking him the same question.

"I'm fine, General."

Since neither of them looked '_fine'_ and Ian looked downright terrible, Hammond wasn't convinced, but he didn't say anything – figuring that if it was a personal matter, then they'd get it fixed on their own. Or Sam would step in and make them fix it.

As if his thoughts of her had summoned her, Sam entered the room just then, giving Hammond a shaky smile, and walking over to sit next to Ian, much to Jack's annoyance, the General could tell. Ian looked over at her, but he didn't say anything, and Hammond decided that he'd better get things started before whatever was going on opened up into an all out confrontation.

"Doctor Jackson?" He turned to Daniel. "Have you found anything that might be of use in deciphering the symbols on the walls of the ruins you found?"

Daniel had been glancing back and for the between Ian and Jack, and turned his attention abruptly back to General Hammond when he heard his name.

"What? Oh… sorry… yes." He checked his notes, a little flustered by the amount of tension and anger he could feel in the room. "It appears that the building we found was similar to one of several kinds used in the ancient Asiatic ritual of Ja-kar." He saw the blank looks, and translated without being asked to. "Throwing out of demons. Exorcism."

"Which means…?"

"It might mean nothing…" Daniel said, shrugging. "But this symbol right here is the Lao symbol for snake – or large worm, or wyrm; spelled w-y-r-m. Another word for a dragon – or a snake. If it's not _metaphorical_, it might mean the drawing out – or exorcism – of a snake."

"Or a Goa'uld." Teal'c said.

Daniel nodded.

"Are you telling me these people knew how to get rid of the Goa'uld?" Sam asked, interested despite the distractions going on around her.

He shrugged.

"I'm not positive. But it's possible." He looked at Hammond. "If we can find more of these buildings – and in better shape – it's possible that we might actually find the method they used for their exorcisms – and it might be something that _we_ can use."

"Or it might just be a way to get rid of leeches…" Hammond said.

"Maybe," Daniel admitted, shrugging once more. "But there's only one way to find out, and I think it's definitely worth going back to take another look around and see what we can find."

"Colonel O'Neill?"

Jack jerked his attention from where he'd been glaring at Ian, who was still rubbing Jaffer's ears while the lab rested his head on the cadet's leg.

"Sir?"

"SG-1 is authorized to go take another look around, to see if you can find more of those buildings. You leave in fifteen minutes."

Hammond stood up before Jack could say anything, and Jack scowled. He didn't want to take Ian offworld with him. If he couldn't trust the bastard with Cassie, he certainly didn't want to trust him to watch his back. He stood as Hammond walked into his office and followed him in, closing the door behind him.

"General, I'd like to ground Cadet Brooks for this mission."

Hammond was hardly surprised, since he'd been watching the dark looks passing between the two of them the entire time Daniel was talking.

"Why?"

Jack scowled.

"I'd rather not say."

"Then permission denied. I went to a lot of effort and stepped out on several limbs to bring him into the SGC – on _your_ recommendation, Colonel – and I'm not about to let you change your mind now. Whatever's bothering the two of you had better be rectified, because I'm not going to go to the President, or the Commandant of the Air Force academy – or to his father – and tell them all that I've changed my mind."

"But-"

"You're dismissed, Colonel."

Jack scowled.

"And you'd better wear your rain gear, because they tell me it's still raining where you're going."

Oh, he looked like he wanted to say something, and Hammond knew it, but Jack could tell from the set expression on the General's face that he wasn't going to change his mind – no matter what Jack said.

"Yes, Sir."

Damn it.


	25. 25

_Author's Note: I'm certainly not trying to stereotype teenaged girls, no matter who thinks that. However, I do work with teenaged girls and say what you want, a lot of them act like the girls at the dance did, and the way Cassie's friends did. If this offends you, I'm sorry, but that's life. As for the way Cassie is acting, it's not that out of character given the examples she's got around her – including her mother who is sleeping with someone she's not married to, Daniel, who is sleeping with (and just moved in with) someone he's not married to, and even Jack and Sam, who didn't wait to get married before they started sleeping together. She's bound to be curious – even with whatever talks about sex Janet's undoubtedly given her. This will all most likely come up later in the story – and the story will get better, I promise – but not yet._

OOOOOOOOOOOOoo

Sure enough, it was pouring just as hard – if not _harder_ – than it had been the day before. Jack scowled, really not ready to face a day like this on top of everything else, and pulled his hat down lower and the collar of his jacket up. The clothing they were wearing now was something of raingear, although not completely. It was still a soft cloth, because any of the other fabrics that were designed to repel water – synthetic or otherwise – made too much noise when the water hit them, and even in the rain most military people didn't like making more noise than the forest or plain or folks around them. It just soaked up less water than most cloth.

He looked over at Ian.

"You're with Teal'c, _Cadet_. Take left flank. Daniel, you're with me."

He moved, but this time instead of going the same direction they had the other days, they went the opposite way, the direction the 'back' of the Stargate faced.

Ian went over to take a position near Teal'c, more than willing to not be anywhere near Jack just then. It was almost a vacation to not be the recipient of the dark glares and he'd take the rain any day compared to that – even when the rain was coming down hard. Teal'c gave him a curious look – he and Daniel still didn't have a clue what was going on between Jack and the Ian – but didn't say anything as the four of them headed out.

OOOOOOO

Sam waited until the gate had disengaged and then looked down at Jack and Jaffer. Both labs had been left with her, since neither Teal'c or Jack had any desire to spend an hour drying the heavy winter fur from another heavy rain – and never mind the smell of wet dog! Since Jack was trained to a treat and liked Sam very much, and Jaffer loved Sam more than pretty much anything – aside from Jack, maybe – Sam had turned into dog nanny.

"Let's go see Janet, shall we?"

Jack barked, and Jaffer wagged his tail, excitedly. Maybe Janet had a few treats she didn't mind parting with!

Smiling for the first time since she'd watched Jack haul Ian down the hall towards his office – that was the effect the dogs had on her, after all – Sam headed for the infirmary.

Janet scowled when she saw Sam arrive. Not because she wasn't glad to see her, but because she was accompanied by not only Jaffer, but Jack as well. Which meant twice as much drool in her infirmary and dog hair on her beds if Sam couldn't keep them off them.

"How did you end up with both of them?"

"It's raining on P93-X56."

"And they didn't want to have to dry the dogs…"

"And didn't want to subject your infirmary to two very drenched dogs later on," Sam added.

Janet nodded. She could appreciate that.

"So what happened with Cassie?"

Fraiser scowled, her eyes flashing angrily as Sam brought up Ian once more. She ushered Sam – and the dogs – into her office and gave her as complete a story as she could, from what little she knew. Adding in the almost non-existent conversation of that morning, and the fact that she'd given Ian countless warnings to keep his hands to himself.

"You don't know that he _did_ anything, Janet," Sam told her friend, after Janet had finished. She honestly just couldn't see Ian pulling a stunt like that.

"I know what I saw, Sam. If he didn't do anything, then why didn't he tell me what happened? Why didn't he walk Cass to the door last night, instead of just dumping her out of the car and driving off? Why-"

"Why don't you ask him?" Sam suggested, cutting off the tirade.

"I _did_."

"Without grabbing him and yelling at him? I've noticed that's a poor way to get anyone to open up to me…"

"He wouldn't tell me anything. I-"

"Why don't I go visit Cass?" Sam asked. "Is she home?"

"Can you be away from here?"

It wasn't a terrible idea, Janet thought. Sam and Cassie were close, and there was always a chance that the girl would tell her something she wouldn't feel she could tell her mother. Things that Janet _had_ to know – especially if they needed to take Cassie in and get certain things checked and tests taken – but Cass might be uncomfortable telling her.

Sam shrugged.

"Why not? It's Friday, after all. All my short-termed projects are finished – except one that I need Ian's help with – and the rest of them are on the back burner until Monday at the earliest. You want to watch the dogs for me?"

Janet looked over at Jaffer, who was eyeing her desk with interest – actually he was probably deciding which one of the ink pens or staplers, or notepads he was going to chew up first the moment someone took their eyes off him – and shook her head.

"My back yard's fenced in."

There was no way she wanted to try her luck with Jaffer and Jack. Or either one separately, for that matter.

Sam nodded and stood up, causing both dogs to jostle for the door.

"You'll let me know if she tells you something?"

"Of course I will."

Sam turned and left, and Janet sat at her desk, watching the activities of those in her infirmary through the glass. This was all Ian's fault, she thought darkly. If he hadn't convinced Cassie that he was so cute and whatever and she absolutely had to take him to the dance and no one else, none of this would have happened.

She was still thinking these bleak thoughts ten minutes later when one of her lab technicians knocked on her slightly opened office door and walked in, holding a file.

"These are Cadet Brooks results from the blood tests on-"

"Put them with his chart," Janet said, waving him out of her office, irritably. The last thing she wanted to do just then was take a look at anything with his name on it. "I'll look at it when I give him his post-mission checkup."

Which would be another way for her to try and interrogate him – probably her best chance, yet.


	26. 26

"So…"

Jack looked over at Daniel, who was walking close beside him, his P-90 hanging down in his hand and water trickling off the barrel. O'Neill scowled, because that weapon was going to need oiling when they returned to the SGC, and Daniel never could put them back together once he'd taken them apart. Which meant Jack would end up doing it for him.

"So, _what_?"

Daniel wasn't even fazed by Jack's scowl. He was far too used to it.

"Want to talk?"

"About…?"

"How about whatever's going on between you and Ian?"

Jack scowled and tossed a look over at Ian and Teal'c, who were just as wet as he and Daniel were, and walking about 40 yards away – both of them holding their weapons in the best way to protect them from the rain that was coming down in sheets.

"What makes you think there's something going on?"

Daniel shook his head in disbelief. Did he look _blind_?

"Jack, the air between the two of you is so frigid, I'm surprised it's not snowing on us…"

Jack scowled. Again.

"I don't want to talk about it."

And that was it. Because Daniel knew he wasn't going to say another word until he was ready to.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The knock on the door startled Cassie out of her thoughts, and when her dog barked excitedly, it actually made her jump. They were definitely thoughts that she didn't mind being distracted from, though, ranging almost consistently from total mortification at what she'd done the night before, and hurt at how Ian had rebuffed her and then traveling straight through to anger at how cold and cruel he'd treated her afterwards.

God, he was so _stupid_, she'd been thinking, her head buried in one of the throw pillows on the couch where she'd been moping almost continuously since her mother had finally left her alone and headed to the SGC that morning. Hadn't he understood what she'd wanted? Hadn't he been so perfect the whole night? How could he not understand what shed been thinking of when she'd asked him to take her to his place? Wasn't that exactly what happened in the movies and on TV when people were going to have sex? The guy was _supposed_ to invite her up to his place – not for _sex_, but to have drinks, of course. Since neither of them drank, though, and Cassie had figured out fairly quickly that she was going to have to do the inviting, she'd come up with the excuse of being hungry – but it'd only been a code, for crying out loud! He was supposed to be a _genius_; how could he not know what she'd wanted?

She sniffed, feeling hurt follow right on the heels of her irritation. She hadn't been acting like a _skank_… she'd been acting like a woman was supposed to act with the man she loved – wasn't she? Offering herself to him? That was what guys wanted, according to Crystal and Angela and every book, movie and TV show she'd ever watched. Sex. Although she preferred to think of it as _lovemaking_, because she was certain she was in love with Ian – and had been so eager to prove it. So eager that she'd done something stupid, and he'd reacted so _wrong_… and now it was all ruined, and she was never going to be able to face him again – assuming he even _wanted_ to see her again, which he probably didn't.

All in all, she was about as twisted up inside as she'd ever been – even when she'd been little. And she _hurt_. This had to be worse than a broken heart, because a broken heart was supposed to be able to heal, and Cassie couldn't imagine the ache inside her ever going away. He'd-

"Cassie?"

She looked towards the door, at the sound of Sam's voice outside.

Oh, God. Her mom had sent Sam. Cassie felt a stab of anxiety and debated whether to even go to the door or pretend that she wasn't there. Maybe Sam would go away. Cassie didn't want to talk to Sam – there was no way she could admit what she'd done – not even to her. Not to anyone.

Then she had a thought that made her even more embarrassed. Maybe Ian had told them what had happened and Sam was coming to check on her? That was something Sam would do, but it wasn't something Cassie could handle just then. She couldn't face Sam knowing that the older woman knew what she'd done – and how badly things had gone from there.

"Cass," Sam's voice came from the other side of the door again, and there was another knock – this one louder. "I know you're in there. Open up, honey."

Numbly, she got up from the sofa and walked over to the door, using her foot to keep her dog from jumping on Sam when she opened the door. And found herself promptly swarmed under by Jaffer and Jack – and her own dog, who reacted to the presence of the two labs with excited barking and yips.

"Jaffer. Jack. Down."

A couple more stolen licks from Jaffer, who was always willing to obey Sam, but also just as prone to hesitating for just a moment before doing so, and then the two labs stepped back a step or two, their tails wagging excitedly and their eyes watching her cheerfully. So cheerfully that she almost managed a smile. Instead, she wiped away the tears that had been trickling down her cheeks while she'd been sitting on the sofa. An action Sam didn't miss.

"Are you okay?"

Cassie nodded, turning away and heading back for the sofa. She didn't want to say anything. Not until she knew what Sam knew or didn't know.

Sam followed her, leaving Jaffer and Jack to wander the house at will. Janet's house was just as dog proofed as hers and Jack's was for the most part, so she didn't have to worry about what they might get into.

She sat down beside Cass, who picked up the throw pillow she'd been holding earlier, and refused to look Sam in the eye.

"Your mom's worried about you."

"She doesn't have to be… I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I am."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Cassie realized then that Sam didn't know much of what had happened. Otherwise she would have brought it up. Instead, by asking if she wanted to talk about it, she was fishing for information. She felt a wave of relief, because now she knew she didn't have to talk about it, and she shook her head.

"No…"

The last thing she wanted to do was admit what she'd done.

"Cass…"

"Sam. It's okay. I'm fine. I don't need to talk about it. Mom doesn't need to worry about me and neither do you."

"Did Ian say something-"

"No!"

_Yes_. Of course he had. But it'd been her fault, and she wasn't going to admit _that_, either. Never. Not for anything. Not even for Sam, who she could tell was truly worried about her.

Sam was taken back by the vehemence of the response, and as a skilled interrogator – not as skilled as Jack maybe, but still pretty darned good – she knew immediately that Cassie was lying.

"Cassie, if something happened… we need to know about it…"

She was still having a hard time believing that Ian had done something so inappropriate that it was leading to things going so out of control so quickly, but she couldn't ignore Cassie's reaction, either.

"Nothing happened, Sam."

And she refused to look her in the eyes. Another sure sign she was lying. And a sign that she was going to _keep_ lying.

Sam sighed, but short of putting the teenager on a rack and torturing her, there was nothing she could do. She'd just have to wait until she was ready to talk. She wasn't giving up, though. She'd hang out for a while, talking about other things, and hope that something would slip.

"Well, then… have you had breakfast?"

It was a little late for breakfast, but Cassie was still in her pajamas, so it was a good guess that she hadn't.

Sure enough, she shook her head.

"Why don't you get dressed and we'll go eat? I'm starved."

"I don't really feel like-"

"Please?"

Cassie sighed, and nodded.

"I'll go get dressed."

Score one for O'Neill…


	27. 27

"So much for heading the way the gate is facing…"

Jack scowled at Daniel, who gave him a bland look. Obviously the archeologist had overheard Ian ask Jack on their first time through the gate how they knew which direction to go, and had heard Jack say that most of the places they'd gone, they'd found the interesting stuff the same direction the gate faced. This time it had proven to be wrong, and since it was obvious Ian wasn't going to say anything – he hadn't spoken a word all day as far as Daniel had heard – then he was going to say it for him.

They'd slogged through what could only be called marsh, although before the heavy rains it had probably been regular ground. The grass and trees were doing a good job keeping up with the copious amounts of water falling – they had yet to see any mudslides or sinkholes – but it wasn't _ahead_ of the game. They had all fallen several times, and there were several deep puddles of standing water around them. Daniel had fallen into one and had had to be fished out by an angry Jack (angry because Daniel wasn't watching where he was going), and Ian had tripped over a root or vine that had been covered with standing water, and had fallen into one of his own. Teal'c had pulled him out, and had then noticed for the first time that Ian looked far more miserable than just a day of being rained on made for.

But Ian hadn't complained, and when Teal'c had asked him if he was feeling all right, the cadet had nodded and started walking again. The last thing he needed was Jack mad at him for slowing things down, after all. God forbid he yell at him for something he actually _did_ do, for a change. He didn't feel good, though. For that matter, he felt bad. Cold, and hot at the same time, and he was shivering so hard his teeth would occasionally start chattering and he'd have to clamp down hard on his jaws to make sure Teal'c didn't hear him. His side ached abominably where he'd been slapped with the tree, and he just knew it was the bruises tightening up in the cold. This was one of those times he wished he weighed about a hundred more pounds so he'd have a little padding between him and the elements.

But now they weren't walking. They'd come to the edge of a very large clearing – in that there were absolutely no trees at all for at least a mile in every direction, which made it the biggest stretch of cleared ground they'd seen so far – and were now looking down on not one of those low-slung buildings, but several. A whole small community of them.

"We can't go down there, Daniel," Jack told him, as Ian and Teal'c came up beside them to overlook the little city as well. Hamlet would probably have been a more apt term, since Ian counted 15 buildings all told. Hardly New York, after all.

"What? Why not?"

Jack scowled.

"Because they're knee deep in water, and it's probably going to get deeper if this rain keeps up. We know where it is, now, we can come back and have a look at it when the rain stops."

Besides, he was cold, and wet.

"But-"

"No buts. I'm not going to go down there until we can see what we're walking on and in."

Since the safety of his team was Jack's responsibility more than anyone else's, it was also his final call, of course. And he was making it. Even if Daniel didn't like the answer.

Jack turned to Teal'c, and blatantly ignored Ian, who wasn't paying attention to him anyways. He'd just realized something else that was a lot more important to him than finding any stupid city. His holster was empty. Somewhere during their walk and in one the many times he'd tripped and fallen, he'd lost his Glock and hadn't even noticed in his misery.

_Fuck_.

"Let's head back," Jack said, sounding tired and miserable, as well. There was nothing worse than walking in the cold rain for hours to make you tired and grumpy – and glad that there was a hot shower waiting for you when you got home. Besides, lunch had come and gone, and none of them had felt like trying to eat soggy rations while standing under a tree that didn't afford much protection from the elements, so they'd skipped it. He was hungry.

Daniel was the only one who hesitated, and that was only for a minute. As much as he wanted to defy Jack and go down and see if there were legible writings on those walls, he was cold and wet, too, and really wanted to get out of the rain. He turned and followed the others back in to the trees. And promptly tripped.

OOOOOOOOOO

When Sam returned to the SGC, it was after lunch and she was about ready to pull her hair out in frustration with the stubbornness of teenagers. Cassie hadn't opened up anywhere near as much as Sam had hoped she would and all Sam had managed to get out of her was that the dance had been great, everyone had loved her dress, and she'd learned a few new dance moves. She hadn't mentioned Ian at all, and every time Sam brought him up, Cassie would get a hurt look in her expression – although it wasn't one Sam could decipher enough to draw her own conclusions about what was going on between the two of them.

When they'd finished eating, Cassie had told Sam that she had to get back home – well aware that the more time she spent with her, the more likely she was to spill the story – and made up an excuse that she had some things she needed to take care of. Which had been a lie. When she got home, Cassie had gone straight back into her bedroom, and had curled up on the bed, holding her pillow and wallowing in her misery once more.

"Any luck?" Janet asked, when Sam and the two labs walked into her infirmary. Janet had spent her morning and early afternoon stewing in anticipation of what Sam might find out, and when Sam shook her head, she felt the anticipation turn into irritation.

"She wouldn't tell me much… but I have a feeling that she had a good time at the dance, and that whatever happened between them happened afterwards."

"Of course it happened _afterwards_," Janet said, tartly. "He's hardly going to make his move in a crowd of people."

"You don't know what happened, Janet," Sam chided her friend. "Just because Cassie's upset, it doesn't mean Ian made a move on her. Maybe she's upset because he _didn't_ make a move on her…"

"Which is why her dress was half unzipped?"

Sam shrugged.

"I'm just saying; try to be a little less accusatory – at least until you know what happened."

"I'm never going to find out at this rate…"

"She'll tell us, eventually. We'll just keep working on her. I'm more worried about _Ian_, really."

"_What_?" She scowled, glaring at her friend as if she'd just told her that she'd decided to become a Red Sox fan. "_He's_ not the one that you need to worry about. He's-"

"In the middle of a witch hunt and for some reason won't tell anyone what happened, while everyone around him is turning on him."

"He-"

"Is an honorable young man, from everything I've seen, and until Cassie – and he – tells me otherwise, I'm not going to believe anything that circumstantial evidence says might have happened. And I suggest you get off your high horse and try to look past your anger and suspicion at what else is going on, too. Because I don't think this is _just_ Ian…"

Janet looked at Sam in shock, but Sam didn't wait around. Calling both the dogs to her side, she headed for Jack's office. She'd had her say, and she'd had a chance to try and get Janet to think a little more rationally than she was. Now she was going to spend a little quiet time on the sofa in Jack's office, and maybe brush the dogs. Or maybe take a nap.

Janet scowled as Sam left, but she didn't call her back, and she didn't lose the irritation in her expression. She went into her office and closed the door in a huff, and flopped down in her chair, staring at paperwork that absolutely had to be done, and charts that had to be updated. And ignored it all and brooded.


	28. 28

"Would you _please_ pick up the pace a bit, _Cadet_. I'd like to be home before my daughter is born."

Ian looked over; surprised that Jack had managed to get so close to him without him noticing, and again felt a pang at the iciness in his voice and the irritation in his expression. Not to mention the cold formality. But he hid that hurt as well as he could, scowling at the sarcasm and stopping himself just before he informed Jack that he'd be waiting a long fucking time if he was waiting for his daughter to be born.

He'd been lagging behind as they'd headed back to the Stargate, hoping to find his Glock on the ground on the way back and knowing there was a slim chance to none of that happening – especially if he'd dropped it in one of the areas of standing water. The more he searched, the more disgusted he was getting with himself for losing it – he was pretty damned fond of that gun, after all. In his irritation and searching, he hadn't noticed that Jack and Daniel were getting further and further ahead of him and Teal'c – who was lagging back with him, even though Ian hadn't noticed that, either.

When Ian looked up at him, Jack felt just a moment of concern when he saw the odd look in the cadet's expression – he almost looked sick, or maybe hurt – but then Ian scowled, and the look had just enough arrogance in it to remind Jack that he was pissed at the cadet and _not_ worried about him.

"I-"

"What are you doing? Trying to keep us out in the rain longer than-"

"I lost my Glock."

"What?"

"I lost my fucking _gun_, okay? I must have dropped it when I fell and I'm looking for it."

Jack scowled.

"I'm not helping you look for it. Let's-"

"I didn't ask you to, did I, _Colonel_? Just go on without-"

"As much as I'd love to _just go on without you_, I'm not going to," Jack told him, feeling his temper rising once more. "Let's go. _Now_."

Ian didn't answer him, he just looked down at the wet ground once more, and Jack grabbed him by the back of his jacket.

"Come on, God damn it."

Ian jerked himself out of Jack's grip, and promptly tripped. Or fell. Adroitly, Teal'c stepped in between the two of them and reached down and pulled Ian to his feet, giving both of them a curious look as he did so.

"Is there-"

"What's going on?" Daniel asked, trotting over. He'd only heard a smattering of what they'd been saying over the sound of the falling rain, but he hadn't missed the way Jack had grabbed Ian, or how Ian had fallen.

"Ian lost his gun," Jack said, his voice filled with anger and frustration. And plenty of both to say the one thing he absolutely knew would piss the cadet off. "You'd think Nathan had taught him better care of a fire-"

"You leave my father out of this you son-"

_"Ian."_

Daniel stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, but the look he gave Jack was a disgusted one. That had been a calculated comment, and incredibly unworthy of Jack – no matter how angry he was at Ian. For whatever it was that he was mad at him for, and Daniel was getting more and more concerned about that, because it had the makings of far more than some little misunderstanding or dispute.

"Jack. Maybe we can-"

"I'm _not_ going to help him find his gun, Daniel," Jack told him, looking at Ian, Daniel and Teal'c all at once. "If he'd taken better care of it, it wouldn't be lost. Let's go."

Jack turned on his heels and headed off once more, leaving Teal'c and Daniel standing beside Ian, looking at the cadet with varying degrees of sympathy and curiosity. He must have done something big to piss Jack off that badly, though, and neither of them could figure out how to ask what it had been.

"Come on, Ian," Daniel said, slapping his shoulder supportively, "We'll get you a new gun."

Ian didn't answer, but when Daniel and Teal'c moved off after Jack, he did, too, anger boiling in his stomach and despair making him feel even worse than he already was.

OOOOOOOOOOO

"You're spoiled."

Jaffer whuffled Sam's face cheerfully for a moment before taking the brand new chew toy out of her hand. Yup! He was spoiled beyond belief, and he knew it. Of course, he wasn't the only one, because Jack (the dog) was sitting right beside him, freshly brushed to a glossy shine and holding a brand new chew toy of his own in his mouth as he watched them. Sam hadn't taken a nap when she'd reached Jack's office. Instead, she'd picked up the brush he always kept in his bottom drawer, and had spent a long time in the simple task of brushing the dogs – something that was calming for her and very enjoyable for them. Now, she was finished, and looking at the clock, she knew that it shouldn't be long before SG-1 returned – they were actually a little later than she'd really expected them to be given the fact that it was pouring on the other side – and debated taking a nap while she waited.

Since the dogs were more than content to be where they were – and they were definitely ready to settle in for some serious chewing – Sam stretched out on the sofa, having just a bit of trouble getting comfortable, and closed her eyes, sighing. The baby was really beginning to make her tired more and more, now, and added to that the stress of whatever was going on with Ian and Cassie – and the affect it was having on Jack and Janet – Sam was worn out. Despite the concerns for everyone, she fell asleep fairly quickly, her hand resting lightly on her stomach, caressing the baby. Yeah, he was worth being tired for.

OOOOOOOOO

When SG-1 came through the gate, looking worn out and resembling drowned rats; Hammond met them at the bottom of the ramp. Alone. Which was something Jack noticed instantly, of course. Since Hammond didn't look at all distressed, though, he knew that Sam's absence wasn't because of something being wrong, so he didn't panic.

"Welcome back, SG-1."

"Thank you, Sir." Jack's voice wasn't nearly as cold as it had been – he'd had the rest of the walk back to the gate to calm down, after all, and had managed to get himself under control – and even start feeling just a little guilty about the cheap shot he'd taken at Ian. Even if the kid had deserved it for pissing him off.

"Did you find anything interesting?"

"Oh, yes," Daniel said, nodding. "A grouping of the same kind of building that we found the first time – only we couldn't get down to check them out because the water was too-"

"We'll tell you all about it in the debriefing, Sir," Jack said, interrupting Daniel before he could tell the whole story right there. That was the whole point of _having_ a debriefing, after all, right?

Hammond nodded, taking in their sorry state and the huge puddles they were leaving on the floor beneath them.

"Major O'Neill was last seen heading towards your office, in case you're curious."

Which he was, of course.

Jack nodded, "Thank you, Sir."

"Debriefing in an hour."

"Yes, Sir."

Hammond left and Jack turned to Daniel and Teal'c – pointedly ignoring Ian.

"You guys go ahead. I'm going to go say hi to Sam."

He turned and headed for the door, and Daniel watched him go, and then turned back to Ian – who looked pale and tired, and with his dark eyes kind of like a drenched Chihuahua.

"Are you alright?"

Ian nodded, appreciating Daniel's concern.

"I'm just tired."

"Why don't you just get showered and head home?" Daniel suggested. "It's not like you'll have much to add to the debriefing, after all." And this way Ian might avoid Jack completely until Monday, which couldn't be a bad thing at all.

That was the best idea he'd heard all day.

"I think I'll just go home," Ian said, wearily. "I can shower there."

And he wouldn't have to deal with Jack that way. Or _Fraiser_ – since Daniel hadn't mentioned a post mission exam by the doctor, and Ian wasn't going to remind him. The last thing he needed – aside from dealing with more cold shoulders from Jack – was the evil eye from Fraiser and probably a dozen dull needles.

"I'll see you guys later."

Before either of them could say anything else – or remember that he had to be somewhere else – Ian headed for the door, and the elevators. He'd only need to stop long enough to grab his car keys, this way.

He'd apologize later.


	29. 29

The door to his office was closed, but since it was _his_ office after all, he silently opened it – just in case she was taking a nap, which wouldn't be the first time – and smiled when he saw that that was exactly what she was doing. Jaffer bolted for the door, his tail wagging furiously and Jack gave him a quick rub for a greeting, noticing that he'd just been brushed and not really wanting to get him all wet after going through all the trouble of keeping him out of the rain in the first place.

When Jack (the dog) came over for his share of attention, Jack scratched his ears, as well, and then left the two dogs alone and walked over and crouched down by the sofa, reaching out and brushing his fingertips against Sam's cheek.

She opened her eyes almost immediately at the touch, and smiled sleepily when she saw him looking down at her, water dripping off his hair and face.

"Your fingers are cold…"

He smiled.

"Sorry."

"I can live with it." She looked around, expecting to see the others – Teal'c at least, since he'd want to collect his baby – but didn't see anyone else. "Where is everyone?"

"Showering and getting warmed up."

"Still raining?"

"In _buckets_."

"Did you find anything?"

"A bunch of buildings. We'll have to go back and look at them later, though; the place was flooding."

She nodded, and sat up, even though he didn't make a move to sit next to her. He was far too wet and chilly to be close to her, even though Sam wouldn't have minded.

"How's Ian?"

Jack scowled, an action that made Sam almost wish she hadn't asked. It was a sure sign that something had happened between the two of them while they were gone – and that could only be bad.

"He's fine."

Oh yeah, she was _sure_ he was. The temperature in the room had just dropped noticeably.

"What happened?"

Jack's scowl deepened; Sam was just too good at reading him.

"He lost his Glock."

"Did he find it?"

"No."

"Did you even let him _look_ for it?"

How well she knew him. Jack sighed, and shook his head.

"It was raining and there was no way of knowing where he lost it…"

"And you were so angry with him that you didn't care if he had a chance to find it or not…?"

"Sam…"

It was her turn to scowl, now, and she did, her entire body suddenly tense. She'd had it out with Janet; she might as well let _him_ know exactly how she felt, too.

"He deserves better than the way you're treating him."

"Not after what he-"

"What did he do? _Exactly_?"

Jack scowled.

"I don't know, _exactly_. All I know is that he did something inappropriate – something to do with that damned dress of Cassie's coming off, because I _know_ it didn't stay on."

"You know for a fact?"

He nodded. That much he was certain of.

"Did it ever occur to you there might be _another_ explanation? An honest – and _appropriate_ explanation?"

"There isn't."

"Meaning, _no_, it didn't…"

"Sam…" he sighed, wondering why she was so quick to take Ian's side in this whole mess. But Sam wasn't finished, yet.

"You told me Ian's a lot like you are – _were_ – when you were his age. Would _you_ have tried something like that? Is that why you're so certain _he_ did?"

Well, that was just a _loaded_ question, now wasn't it? Jack hesitated, trying to honestly answer the question – because Sam would know if he was lying.

"I don't know… maybe…"

"But you're so certain that he _did_…" She shook her head, angry with him, and with Janet, and with the two kids that wouldn't tell anyone what was going on and had brought them all to this level of confrontation. "Without hearing anything to give you absolute proof…"

"Why are you so certain he didn't?" Jack asked, frustrated. He knew she was mad at him – he could see it in the way she was sitting and the angry flash in her eyes – and it wasn't fair that she should be mad at him. _He_ didn't do anything.

She stood up, awkwardly, but ignored the hand he offered her in assistance.

"Because he _is_ a lot like you are, and I don't think you'd have done anything, either. Go get dried off, I'll see you when you debrief."

With that, she left his office, followed by Jack (the dog) and Jaffer, who hesitated just long enough to whuffle Jack's hand once more before following Sam out the door.

OOOOOOOOO

"Where's Ian?"

The door to the brifing room had opened, and Sam had entered. There was a moment's scuffle while Jack went and greeted Teal'c, whose normally reserved face broke into a smile as it always did when he was confronted with his yellow lab's cheerful demeanor, and Jaffer went over to say hi to Daniel.

Daniel hesitated, scratching Jaffer's ears, and then shrugged.

"I told him to go home."

"What?"

He shrugged again. It seemed like the thing to do.

"I told him to skip the debriefing and just go home. He's had a rough day, and he really looked like he needed to be anywhere but near Jack."

"What happened?" Sam asked, coming over just as Hammond was walking out of his office.

"He lost his gun."

"Cadet Brooks did?" Hammond asked.

Daniel nodded.

"Jack went ballistic and the two got into a shouting match."

Hammond frowned; he didn't like the sound of that – especially since Ian was very junior to Jack, and that wasn't the way things were done in the Military.

"Where is he?"

"He went home."

"What?"

"He went home," Daniel repeated. "He was tired and worn out, and I think he needed a chance to cool off – and warm up – away from Jack."

"Doctor Jackson-"

"Jack used the line 'You'd think Nathan would have taught him better…'"

"Ouch." This was from Sam, who knew just what kind of reaction that was bound to have on Ian, who was very sensitive about his relationship with his father. Even though things did seem to be getting better between the two of them.

_Hammond_ knew as well – better than Sam or Daniel or anyone else might have expected – because he'd had a couple of conversations with Nathan Brooks about his son since the cadet had come to the SGC, and under Hammond's command. One of those conversations had started with Nate asking if Ian had received the Glock he'd sent him.

"You probably did the right thing, then, Doctor Jackson…" He admitted. "Although I don't like the fact that you made that decision without consulting me…"

"It just seemed like the best-"

Hammond interrupted him by raising his hand.

"No harm done… just don't do it again."


	30. 30

Author's Note: Yeah, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't really allow someone to leave the base straight from a mission like that, but I needed them to for this story, and in this chapter I'll try to make it as plausable as I can :)

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"You look like shit, Cadet."

Ian flipped the Sergeant at the gate the bird, and received an answering grin in return, although the older man didn't return the favor. He _was_ on duty, after all, even if Ian wasn't.

"I'm going home to take care of that."

"You'd better, you're getting water all over the seat, and Major O'Neill'll kill you if she finds out you're being so rough with her car."

_Major_ O'Neill was the least of Ian's worries just then, but he nodded. He liked the Sergeant at the gate – for that matter, he'd found that he liked most of the Marines that were responsible for guarding the SGC. They were solid men and women, who treated him fairly well considering he was younger than most of them and ranked beneath all of them as well. They, on the other hand, loved his cocky attitude and the fact that he wasn't afraid to tell them to go to hell – or be told that in return – and didn't go running to his daddy every time something went wrong or someone called him a name. And of course, all of them knew who his father was, even though Ian hadn't been the one to tell them. Another thing in his favor.

"She's not going to find out, Sergeant," Ian told him, already feeling a little better now that he was out of the confining mountain and away from any need to see Jack for the next two days. "I'll have it cleaned up and dry long before I give it back. If I ever _do_."

"Good luck on that…"

Ian nodded, and put the car in gear as the Sergeant opened the gate.

"Have a good weekend, Sergeant."

"You, too, Cadet."

He intended to. He was going to go home and shower and fall into bed and try to shake the cold he'd managed to catch. Everything else would have to wait until he felt better.

He drove home with the heat on full force, and was still cold. Of course, it didn't help that his clothes were still soaked, and clinging to him uncomfortably, but he was shivering when he got out and headed into the apartment building, and still shivering when he unlocked the door and went inside.

He stripped to the skin, leaving a trail of wet clothes – completely uncharacteristic for him – all the way to the bathroom, where he turned on the shower to as hot as he could handle without scalding his skin. With a gasp of pain as the spray struck his bruised side and reopened the little cut, he shifted just enough that the water was going onto his face and chest, and braced himself against the wall of the shower, closing his eyes against a wave of dizziness. The water felt great, although it was taking forever for it to get him warm, even though the room was steaming up nicely. His muscles were finally beginning to relax, easing tensions for the first time all day, and easing the aching in his side a little – although it still stung a bit from getting hit with the water. Nothing he couldn't handle, though.

Eventually, the water started turning cool, even though he wasn't completely warmed up, yet. There was a part of him deep inside that was still chilled – although the rest of him was flushed nicely, and overly heated. Which felt great.

He dried off in the bathroom, and then went out into the living room, shivering in the relative chill of the larger room. Pulling the blanket that had been neatly folded over the back of the sofa, he carried that into the bedroom with him and piled it on over the comforter and quilt he already had on the bed. Dropping the towel, he slid under the covers, shivering until his body heat finally started to warm the cold sheets. Only then did he fall asleep, and even then it was restless, with dreams of crazy humanoid creatures that looked like nothing he'd ever seen before but knew existed. Evil and malevolent, they'd been haunting his dreams for days, now… an ancient evil that he knew he'd eventually have a name for.

OOOOOOOO

Since he'd been the last one to get showered, Jack was the last one to get to the briefing room, and he entered a little late. He scowled when he saw Sam sitting between Daniel and Teal'c – which meant she _didn't_ want to sit with him – and frowned deeper when he realized that Ian was absent.

"Where's Ian?"

"Cadet Brooks went home," Hammond told him, before Daniel could open his mouth. Hammond knew that Jack wouldn't have much to say if he assumed it was Hammond who had sent Ian home, as opposed to if it had been Daniel who'd allowed it, and he wasn't ready for any more attitude from Jack just then. He wasn't sure entirely what was going on – any more than Daniel and Teal'c were – but he was glad it was the weekend coming and everyone would have a chance to cool off a bit.

Jack heard the finality in Hammond's tone of voice, and knew the topic wasn't open for debate – although it didn't stop him from being annoyed. He sat down at the table, and Jaffer came over and put his head in Jack's lap in a silent plea for some loving, which Jack was only too happy to give him. At least someone wasn't mad at him.

"So tell me about these buildings, Doctor Jackson," Hammond said, looking over at Daniel once he was certain Jack wasn't going to make a scene about Ian's absence.

"They're great, General," Daniel said, looking over from watching Jack, and warming up to his subject. "There are fifteen of them, and even though we didn't get close to them, I'm certain we'll be able to find at least some clue…"

And so the debriefing went…

OOOOOOOO

Jack couldn't have been happier to get away from the briefing room – even though it meant the next stop was Fraiser's infirmary for a quick check up. Not that he was worried about that, really – they'd been on the same planet for three days in a row, now, and aside from water in his ears he was pretty sure that was about the worst the place could throw at them. He was just glad to get moving again, and hopefully find something to take his mind off of how pissed Sam was at him – and maybe distract her, as well.

When he and the rest of SG-1 entered the infirmary, Fraiser came out of her office. She'd been waiting on them to finish their debriefing – they were the last group offworld that week, and when they checked clean she'd be able to send her medics home – most of them anyways. And she was hoping to get a final crack at Ian, to see if she could get him to tell her what had happened the night before – she was even considering the possibility of trying to do it the way Sam had suggested; without the glares and accusations. Well, as much as she could, anyways, because she still didn't really believe that Sam was right and she was wrong.

But he wasn't with them.

"Where's Cadet Brooks?" She asked Jack, frowning.

"Hammond sent him home," Jack told her as she directed him to sit on one of the tables so she could test his blood pressure and heart rate.

"Why?"

He shrugged.

"Probably to get him away from me."

She scowled. As much as she understood the reasoning behind that, she didn't like the thought of anyone leaving the base after a mission without having passed through her infirmary, first, and wondered if Hammond had even considered that. Jack obviously could tell what she was thinking, though, because he shrugged, again.

"Relax, Doc. If the rest of us are bug free, then Ian probably is, too."

While that was probably true, it didn't necessarily make it so, and Janet knew it – even if Hammond and the others didn't. But she decided that, really, she wasn't going to make a fuss about it, either. The chances were pretty good that if he'd shown up in her infirmary, she'd just ended up yelling at him, anyways, because she was pretty sure she wasn't going to get anything out of the cadet. Not after that morning.

Then she had another idea, entirely. One that didn't require her to talk to Ian at all, and _still_ might get her the information she wanted.

She shrugged, and strapped the blood pressure cuff onto O'Neill's arm.

"Let's get you guys out of here, then. I'd like to get home."


	31. 31

When Fraiser came home, Cassie was in her bedroom. She wasn't really all that surprised about that, though; even in the best of times Cassie spent a lot of time in her room. She had a TV in there, and a computer, and all the other necessities of life, so it was hardly arduous, after all. But there was food in the dog's dish, and dishes in the drainer, so it was obvious that she hadn't spent all day in her room.

"Cass?"

She came to the door of her room, warily looking out into the hall where Janet was standing. Janet ignored the look.

"Are you hungry?"

She shook her head.

"I had a sandwich."

"Then we're going to have a late dinner," Janet told her. "I have some paperwork I need to get finished, and I thought I'd bring it home with me."

"That's fine." She went back into her room, closing the door silently behind her, and instead of scowling like she would have, Janet simply went back into the kitchen and made herself a snack and took about an hour to just relax a bit and spend a little time with the dog, since Cassie wasn't making an appearance.

When she was ready to start her paperwork, however, she went back to Cassie's door, and knocked lightly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to start my paperwork…"

"Okay."

"Why don't you come out and keep me company?"

There was a pause, and Janet smiled, knowing Cass was weighing her options and debating whether to decline or not.

"You can help me with the data entries."

It wouldn't be the first time – although Janet didn't often bring her paperwork home with her.

Cassie sighed, inwardly, but she figured it was going to be that or listen to her mom try and convince her to tell her what had happened the night before, still – and she'd pretty much do anything before she did that. She came to the door and opened it, more or less reluctantly, although Janet opted not to notice it.

"Okay."

Medical records for the people in the SGC were strictly confidential, and Janet guarded her patient's privacy like a lioness guarded her cubs, but the data entry parts of the records were hardly sensitive material, and it was a lot easier to transfer the information from charts over to her computer files if she had someone reading off the information, and Cassie was usually the one who helped her. Originally, it had been a good way for them to spend time together; something that Cassie could do that would make her feel like she was helping – which she was. Now they did it because it was almost a tradition; if Janet had data entries that she couldn't get finished at work – and emergencies always took precedence of course – then she'd bring it home so Cassie could help her.

The two of them went to the kitchen table, and Janet pulled out her laptop while she handed Cassie a thick stack of papers.

"Start with line A, okay?"

Cassie nodded, and waited for Janet to get ready before she started reading off numbers.

After a half hour or so, she figured that Cassie had had a chance to lose some of the wariness she'd started with, and then Janet went in for the kill. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

"So… what did you do today?"

Cassie looked up from the paper she'd been reading from, but she couldn't see anything wrong with the question.

"Went for lunch with Sam…" That much her mom would already know, of course. "…and did some homework, read a few chapters of that new book…" Brooded…

"Pretty easy day?"

Cassie nodded.

"How about you?"

Janet made an exasperated sound that she didn't really mean.

"I had a long day. Three SG teams needed checkups, Private Alverez was released from the infirmary today, and I signed Ian Brooks' medical transfer papers."

"What?"

"Private Alverez was released today," Janet repeated, although she _knew_ that wasn't what Cassie had been asking.

"What do you mean about _Ian_?"

"They're transferring him back to the Air Force Academy and needed my medical authorization to do it. Because of the gunshot wou-"

"_Why_ are they transferring him?"

Janet shrugged.

"Colonel O'Neill wouldn't tell me…" she said, "But I'm pretty sure it has to do with credibility. He's very angry with the Cadet right now, and Sam told me that he doesn't think he can trust Ian anymore, because he obviously couldn't trust him with _you_ for one night."

"What?"

Janet gave Cassie an odd look.

"You have to be able to trust the people on your teams, Cassie. _You_ know that. Colonel O'Neill trusted Ian, and he blew it last night. So he doesn't trust him anymore and he's going to have him transferred back to-"

"That's not _fair_."

"It's Colonel O'Neill's decision to make."

"But Ian didn't _do_ anything…"

"He won't tell us what happened," Janet told her, reasonably, although she was secretly pleased with just how well her ploy was working. "_You_ won't tell us what happened, so we don't know-"

"He _didn't_-"

"We don't _know_ that."

"_I_ do!"

Cassie was in a real panic. She couldn't believe that Jack had turned on Ian so quickly and for such a little reason. But of course, she _knew_ what Jack was capable of, and _knew_ his hot temper, _knew_ how protective he was of her and believed it, even though it was insane. She couldn't even imagine why Ian hadn't said something to protect himself – except that _he_ was probably just protecting her, too – or _thought_ he was – and Cassie couldn't let him ruin his career before it even got off the ground just so he could protect her. And she couldn't _allow_ it to happen, just to protect herself from embarrassment over what had happened.

She couldn't. It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair for her to let him take the brunt of _her_ stupidity.

"_Ian_ didn't do _anything_, mom…" Cassie repeated, suddenly flushing and unable to look Janet in the eye. "It… _I_ did…"

Janet had been silent while she watched a dozen emotions roll over Cassie's very mobile and expressive face, and had waited, knowing that if ever she was going to find out what happened, this was going to be the moment. When Cassie started speaking, Janet had to bite her lower lip to keep from allowing the triumph to show in her own expression. As Cassie started speaking, however, stammering and faltering over her words, Janet's smugness turned into chagrin, and then mortification – not only with Cassie for what she'd tried to get Ian to do and how she'd tried to do it, but with herself for how she'd treated Ian, who according to what she was hearing, hadn't deserved any of the things she'd said or done… or thought…

"Oh, my God…"


	32. 32

"What were you _thinking_??"

Cassie couldn't have hung her head any lower, and there was absolutely no way she could look Janet in the eyes, and she was in tears, both from embarrassment and remembered hurt at the way Ian had treated her as he'd denied her – which Cassie hadn't gotten into in details.

"I don't know… I… I _wasn't_, I guess… I-"

"Do you know how _lucky_ you are that he didn't take you up on that?" Janet asked, trying to rein in her growing anger, because it wasn't directed at Cassie – no matter how dumb her little stunt had been – it was directed at herself, and Cassie would be a far easier outlet. If Janet allowed that to happen. Something she knew she couldn't.

"No. You weren't," Janet repeated. "Did you think of birth control?"

Cassie shook her head. "I thought Ian-"

"What did I _tell_ you about that, Cass…?" Janet asked, sighing. It wasn't like they hadn't had a conversation about this a long time ago – with a follow up only the year before that had been a bit more detailed. "You _can't_ rely on the guy… once things get past a certain stage, it's very easy to forget about the need for it, and if you haven't prepared-"

"It didn't get that far, mom," Cassie told her, tears dropping on the files that were sitting in front of her on the table. "Ian wouldn't have me…" She sniffed, wiping her nose with the back of her hand, and Janet got up and came around the table and pulled her daughter into her arms.

"Cass…"

Cassandra sobbed into her mother's shoulder, glad that she hadn't turned on her, too, like Ian had.

"I just wanted him to love me…" she stuttered. "I-"

"Love isn't just about sex, baby," Janet told her, rocking her gently, and feeling her own heart breaking at the forlorn whisper that was normally her daughter's vibrant, cheerful voice. "I'm sure he loves you –"

Actually, she knew – more or less – what Ian thought of Cassie, now that Janet considered it. Hadn't she been there when he'd been doped up, listening to how he'd told them that he wasn't good enough for her, and that she deserved better? That wasn't something you said about someone unless you cared for them. As much as it had annoyed Janet back then, it was evidence of the feelings the boy had for Cassie, and Janet knew it.

"He _hates_ me," Cassie said, shaking her head, fresh tears falling at that thought. "He won't ever talk to me again. Especially after this…"

Janet shook her head.

"Nothing's done that can't be undone, sweetheart."

"Yes it is… he hates me. He won't want to see me again, and I don't blame him. I was a skank and he-"

"You weren't a _skank_," Janet interrupted, pulling Cassie away from her shoulder and forcing her to look her in the eye. No matter how much she didn't like the thought of what her daughter had done, there was absolutely no way she'd allow her to continue feeling like that about herself. "You were confused… and after a night of dancing and being so close to him, I'll bet you just assumed it was the next natural step…"

Cassie nodded.

"It's _another_ step," Janet told her. "But it's _not_ the next one – and it's not a step that you take unless you've discussed it with your partner. You probably startled him more than made him angry, you know? That's not something you should spring on anyone…"

But, God, she was glad now that it had been Ian she'd approached, and not one of the horny little bastards that had been following Cassie around the last few years… There was no doubt in Janet's mind what one of them would have done in a similar situation.

"He was really angry…" Cassie said, shaking her head. "And now he hates me… and I don't blame him… I hate me, too."

She dissolved into another round of sobs and Janet pulled her close once more, cuddling her tightly and trying to figure out what the hell she was going to do to fix this one. Not only the mess between Cassie and Ian – which was obviously something that needed fixing, one way or the other – but also the mess she'd made when she'd over reacted to what she'd plainly seen as something Ian had instigated and now had found he'd been as innocent in the matter as anyone. Obviously that would have to be fixed as well.

But first, she had to take care of Cassie, because that was the matter that was nearest to her at the moment, and dearest to her heart. Then she could worry about Ian… He could wait until morning.

OOOOOOO

It had been a very long time since Jack had felt so uncomfortable with Sam. Years. They drove home in almost complete silence, broken only by him asking her what she wanted to do for dinner, and her telling him that she'd make dinner when they got home. Then she'd gone back to looking out the window and hadn't spoken again.

He knew she was angry with him. That much was obvious – even to him – and there wasn't anything that he could think of to say to make things a bit smoother. Fine; it had been petty to not stay and look for the gun, but they'd been getting rained on and they were cold – even _Ian_ had looked cold, for crying out loud. It wasn't like he couldn't get another gun. Nate would probably send Ian one if he asked him to.

The thought of Nate made Jack wince, because that reminded him of the comment he'd made to Ian about his dad – and Jack knew that had been a bad one. He didn't even need Sam to tell him that. He'd just been mad, and tired, and frustrated, and Ian had been the target, because he deserved to be. It wasn't like the kid was _blameless_, after all. Even if Sam didn't believe it.

When they pulled into the driveway, and Jack stopped the truck, then looked over at her.

"I'm sorry, okay?"

She shook her head, opening her door.

"No, you're not."

He wasn't; she was right. He was sorry she was mad at him, and sorry that there was so much tension between the two of them, but he wasn't sorry he chewed Ian out – and he knew it as well as she did. Damn it.

She got out of the truck, and Jaffer waited until she was completely out and steady before he jumped down beside her. He whuffled her hand gently, and then headed for the door, turning around and waiting for the two of them.

Jack joined her on the porch while she was unlocking the door, and rested his hand lightly on the small of her back.

"I'll make dinner, Sam. You go rest."

"I took a nap earlier," she told him. "I'm fine."

"I don't mind."

"Me, either."

He sighed, silently, and held the door open for her.

"I'll help."

"Fine."

It was a start, he supposed.


	33. 33

Once she had Cassie more calm, Janet spent the rest of the evening with her, the two of them sitting on the sofa just spending some quality time together. It was something Cassie needed to reassure herself that Janet wasn't angry with her, and something Janet needed simply because she needed quiet time with her daughter.

Eventually, she sent Cassie off to bed, though. The teenager hadn't had a lot of sleep the evening before – next to none, actually – and had had a rough evening, and it was taking its toll on her, physically. _Emotionally_, she was doing a lot better than she had been, and Janet was glad to see the true smile on her face when she gave her a final hug goodnight – something she hadn't done in quite a while.

"I'm sorry…"

Janet nodded, and hugged her tight for a long moment. Just stocking up against the day that Cassie would decide she was too old for hugs from her mom.

"I know, honey. It's okay, though. Things will work out. They always do." She kissed her cheek, and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll see you in the morning."

Cassie nodded, and headed off to bed, and Janet poured herself a cup of coffee and settled back on the sofa, debating what her next move was going to be.

First, she'd have to figure out how to apologize to Ian for being such a cold-hearted and suspicious bitch. Then she'd have to thank Sam for pointing that out to her. And then, she'd have to figure out how to thank Ian for what he'd done – or _hadn't_ done, as the case was. And then, she'd have to make sure that he hadn't lost his interest in Cassie… although now that she thought about it, and recalled some of the things he'd said in the past – and things that Sam had mentioned – she wondered if Ian was actually interested in Cassie in the first place, or if he really was playing hard to get.

She sighed, and debated giving the cadet a call that evening, now that she had Cassie settled for the night. Maybe a heart to heart talk… over the _phone_? Yeah, that wasn't going to work, was it…? She could always go over there – on the pretense of finishing the exam he never had that afternoon. But that would definitely put him on the defensive, and she knew it. She'd never be able to get the conversation started if he was defensive.

She finished her coffee and decided to go to bed as well. Maybe she and Sam could come up with an excuse to go over there the next day – if Sam was willing to help.

OOOOOOOOO

Much to Jaffer's disgust, dinner that evening was a simple chef salad, big enough for both of them to share, and incredibly easy to make. Sam had prepared the lettuce and tomatoes while Jack had taken care of all the rest of the ingredients, neither one of them saying much – and the tension between them was still palpable.

After they ate, Sam cleaned up the few dishes while Jack took Jaffer out for a run in the back yard, and then she went into her 'lab' to work on some computations while Jack pulled out the brush and took Jaffer out onto the front porch to brush him. Even though Sam had just done a good job on him, the lab was really starting to shed his winter coat, and it was far better to brush him twice a day than find black hairs all over their bed, and the sofa, and in their meals and on the seats of the truck.

Jaffer didn't mind at all. He loved nothing more than sitting still, his head on Jack's thigh while Jack ran the brush all over him, taking care of all those itchy spots he had. He closed his eyes in pleasure at the touch, and Jack allowed himself to be lost in the familiar pattern, letting his mind wander to the biggest problem of the day. Ian.

He wouldn't brood over it so much if not for the fact that Sam seemed so damned certain that Ian hadn't done anything. Jack had talked to the boy. He knew that something had happened, imply by the way Ian had reacted to his questioning, but Sam was determined it wasn't as bad as Jack thought it was, and was mad at him because he refused to believe otherwise. Which meant that maybe he should give it a little more thought – even though he was very prone to instant decisions and judgments, and very rarely changed his mind once it was made up – because Sam wasn't wrong very often, and even less often when it came to these kinds of things.

He started brushing Jaffer's chest, considering what he knew. Well… he really knew damned little. He knew something happened to upset Cassie, and knew that the dress hadn't stayed on. He knew that Ian wasn't talking, and neither was Cassie, but he supposed that there could be a different reason for that silence. Maybe nothing had happened that Jack wouldn't have approved of, but something had happened that was embarrassing for one of them? Cassie? She had been wearing a dress that defied gravity, after all. Maybe it had fallen down during the dance? That would have upset her, he was sure.

But Ian could have told Jack _that_. It was embarrassing, but hardly life and death important. Certainly not important enough to put up with having Jack mad at him.

He moved to Jaffer's sides, his strokes a little annoyed, although his hands were gentle on the lab.

Maybe it was something else… maybe someone _else_ made a comment about Cassie and Ian had gotten into a fight or something? That wouldn't be something that Ian would want found out – especially since he knew Hammond wouldn't approve of him getting into a brawl in the middle of a high school dance. But if Ian had stood up for Cassie, then you'd think _she'd_ have told her mother, especially since Cassie knew how much Janet didn't trust Ian. That justdidn't sound right, either.

Add to that the fact that Sam was right; Ian just wasn't the kind of guy that would do something like that – no matter how much Jack wanted to think he was. Jack had had a fair chance to get to know Ian, and he liked the kid. Liked the fact that he didn't back down from anything or anyone, and God, the boy was exactly like his father in so many ways. Ways that were the main reasons Jack and Nate had become friends so many years ago. Ways that made it even less plausible that he had done what Jack had accused him of doing.

"Damn it."

What could it be?

He stayed out for another forty-five minutes, until his hands were cold, and even Jaffer was getting tired of being brushed. Then he pulled the mass amounts of dog hair out of the brush and went inside with Jaffer, hanging the brush up and locking the door behind him.

Sam was right. He was making a judgment he couldn't make. Not without all the facts – or at least a whole lot more than he had. He didn't like the thought of being wrong – and he wasn't completely positive that he was – but he owed it to Ian (and Sam) to at least try to get the real story out before he actually incriminated Ian the way he had been.

He went looking for her, figuring that she could probably give him some hints for talking to the cadet – since she was a lot better at getting things out of him than Jack ever would be – and found that she'd left her 'lab' and had gone to bed. He looked at his watch; it was still early, but he knew she was getting tired easily, lately, and maybe she just didn't want to face him again that evening. That thought stung, and Jack felt guilty for allowing his feelings to wear her down and come between the two of them like they had.

He undressed and slid into their bed beside her, facing her, even though she was turned away from him, resting on her side, which was pretty much the only way she could rest now days.

"Sam?"

He whispered, because he wasn't sure if she was asleep, yet, and if she was, he didn't want to wake her. She replied almost instantly, though.

"Hmm?"

He slid his hand along her bare side, running his palm over the bulge that was their child.

"You're right…"

She turned her head –although not the rest of her.

"What?"

"About _Ian_. You're right. I need to talk to him and see if I can find out what happened. He's a good kid, and it's possible… that something else happened – something a _bit_ more innocent than what I think happened…"

She smiled, and Jack felt his heart skip a beat. God, how did she _do_ that to him?

"You mean that?"

He nodded.

"I'll go talk to him tomorrow."


	34. 34

It was Jaffer that woke Jack up the next morning. The lab had been restless most of the night, which had transferred itself to Jack, prompting him to go out and sleep on the couch to keep from waking Sam up over and over. She had enough trouble sleeping, what with the baby occasionally giving her a good whack to the bladder or liver, and he didn't want to add to the reason she didn't get any sleep that night. He kissed her softly, telling her where he was going, and she'd mumbled something he couldn't understand and gone back to sleep almost immediately.

Taking Jaffer with him, Jack had flopped down on the sofa, and still the lab was restless, whuffling and making rumbling noises deep in his chest until Jack finally just pulled him up on top of him and cuddled him, mumbling to him sleepily about how Sam wasn't going to let either of them back into the bed if hekept this up. Jaffer had whuffled and rumbled a bit more, but if he kept doing it Jack didn't know, because he finally drifted off.

"You're up early."

Jack looked over at Sam when she came into the kitchen and immediately started her a cup of tea.

"Jaffer woke me."

Otherwise he would have slept in, since it was Saturday. As it was, he was showered and shaved and already dressed for his day.

Sam looked over at the lab, who was busily munching his way through his breakfast, and smiled.

"Maybe he's having sympathy pains?"

"I think it was the salad he stole off my plate last night coming back to haunt him."

She smiled again, and walked over, wrapping her arms around him, and he set his coffee down and hugged her lightly.

"Are you hungry?"

"Starved."

"Go sit down. I'll make you some breakfast."

"Are you going to eat?"

He shook his head.

"I'm going to go take Ian out for breakfast."

She looked at the clock – it was a little after 8 AM.

"Did you call him?"

"Nah. This way he doesn't have a choice."

"And if you take him out into public, you'll be less inclined to lose your temper and will hear him out…"

He nodded. How well she knew him.

"Do you need anything before I go?"

"Are you taking Jaffer?"

"No. He can stay and keep you company."

And guard her to make sure if something happened she wasn't going to be alone.

Sam smiled; not at all fooled.

"I'm fine. I'll make my own breakfast, and then maybe we'll go for a walk to the park."

"I'll see you later, then."

She nodded, tilting her head so he could kiss her.

"Tell him I said hi."

OOOOOOOOOO

When Jack pulled his truck into the parking area at the apartment building, he parked it right next to Sam's convertible. He sat in the truck for a long few minutes, gathering his thoughts and going over what he wanted to say. On the way over he'd been trying to figure out the best way to broach the subject of what had happened Thursday night without getting either himself or Ian angry, and had pretty much come up blank. Which meant he was going to have to wing it – something he did well, normally, but had a feeling it wasn't going to go well in this instance. He and Ian were too much alike sometimes. But, it was something he had to try, anyways.

He got out of the truck, and headed inside. And promptly ran into Daniel.

"What are you doing here?"

"Good morning, Jack. I'm fine, thank you. How are you?"

Jack scowled.

"Hi, Daniel. How are you? What are you doing here?"

"I came to steal a couple more books from my shelves."

Jack looked at Daniel's hands, which were empty.

"And Ian wouldn't let you have them?"

"He didn't answer the door. So I thought he must be gone – or sleeping in."

"Sam's car is here. Did you try calling him and waking him up?"

"He didn't answer."

"Well… let's go wake him up."

Jack wasn't going to go home and tell Sam that he hadn't had his talk with Ian. At least not without _trying_ to have it.

"I can come back later, Jack… it's no big deal…"

"Come on, Daniel."

Without looking to see if he was following, Jack headed for the elevators, and after a few minutes he and Daniel were outside the door of the apartment.

He knocked on the door and the two of them looked at each other while they waited for an answer. But none came.

"I told you."

"Yeah, yeah. Do you have your key?"

"It's just a book, Jack. I can wa-"

But Jack couldn't. Now it was different, though, than just wanting to talk to Ian, because he knew the kid was an early riser – even on Saturday. He should have been up for at least a couple of hours, and definitely should have answered the door.

"Open the door, Daniel."

Daniel sighed, but did as Jack told him, pulling out his key to the apartment and opening the door, wondering as he did so if this was just another sign of how ticked off Jack was at Ian.

The apartment was silent when they walked in the door, and Daniel frowned at the scattered clothes on the floor. That wasn't like Ian, he knew.

"Ian?"

The archeologist could hear Jack's concern in his voice, and he felt a stab of worry, as well. If Jack was worried, then Daniel knew there might be a reason to be.

There was no answer to his call.

"Maybe he went for a run…"

"He drives to the school when he runs," Jack told him. "_Ian_!"

Jack was walking through the apartment, now, glancing out onto the balcony as he walked past that door, and then heading down the hall, with Daniel right behind him. The bathroom door was open, but the bedroom door was closed, and Jack didn't even knock. By then, he was certain something was wrong. He opened the door, and they both walked in – and stopped.

Ian was in the bed, tangled in sheets with the rest of the bedding on the floor. He was muttering something, but they could both tell he wasn't awake, and even from the doorway, they could see he was flushed with fever. He didn't react when they crossed the room, but he did cry out when Jack reached him and pressed his hand lightly against his sweaty cheek.

"_Ano dirsartium! Ano caratian deca feratum_…"

"Jesus…" Jack started to untangle the cadet from his sheets while Daniel reached for the phone.

"Ian?"

"_Alositu_…"

"What's he saying?" Jack asked Daniel, who had frowned and hesitated in mid dial.

"I'm not even sure what language he's speaking…"

"What?"

Daniel shrugged, looking baffled, and started dialing again.

"It almost sounds like Ancient…"


	35. 35

"Ian doesn't _speak_ Ancient, Daniel," Jack said, frowning as he managed to untangle the sheets from around Ian. They'd been so tight that they'd actually left red marks in his bare skin, and they were soaked.

"Are you calling Fraiser?"

Daniel nodded, and watched as Jack wrapped the young man in one of the blankets that had been on the floor while waiting for Janet to answer the phone.

OOOOOOOO

Cassie and Janet hadn't been up all that long when the phone rang. It was a Saturday morning, after all, and that was the best morning for sleeping in. They were just finishing breakfast when the phone rang, and Cassie jumped up, feeling better than she had in days.

"I'll get it."

Janet nodded, but didn't go back to her paper just yet. After all, there was a slight – _very slight, mind you_ – chance that it might be for her. Although Cassie tended to get most of the calls, and Emmett was still out of town – for at least another few days.

"Hello?"

"Cass?"

"Daniel. Hi."

She wondered why the archeologist sounded so serious.

"Is your mom up?"

Cassie turned to Janet, which told the doctor that the call was for her.

"Yeah, she's right here. Are you okay?"

Janet stood up and came to get the phone, taking it from Cassie just as Daniel was telling her that he was fine.

"Daniel?"

"Janet. Hi. Um… we need you."

"What? Where?"

"Ian's sick. We just stopped by his place, and he's hot and sweaty, and I think he's delirious."

"What?"

"He's-"

"Never mind. Keep him warm and don't give him anything to drink. I'll be right there."

She hung up and looked at Cassie, who had followed only her mother's half of the conversation.

"What's going on?"

"Daniel's at Ian's. Apparently, he's sick."

"What?"

Janet shrugged, and reached for her shoes.

"I'm going to go over there and find out what's going on. I'll let-"

"I want to come, too."

She looked over at Cassie, and almost told her no. For one thing, there was a very good chance that if Ian was sick, he could be contagious, and the last thing she wanted was for Cassie to get sick too. Common sense told her that if he was contagious, then he'd been sick for a few days at least – most illnesses like that took time to incubate, after all – and Cassie would have already been exposed to it.

The other reason she debated refusing, though, was a bit closer to the heart. If he was sick, she didn't need Cassie worrying over him, hovering and asking her how he was doing every couple of minutes.

It must have been obvious what she was thinking, though, because Cassie spoke up again.

"Please, mom?"

Janet didn't have time to get into a lengthy debate.

"Fine. But you stay out of the way. Agreed?"

Cassie nodded and darted into her room to get dressed, and Janet grabbed up her medical bag, mentally doing a tally of what she had in there, and what she might need.

OOOOOOOOO

"Janet's on the way."

"Good. Help me get him out of bed."

"Are you sure we should?" Daniel asked, even as he dropped the phone and came around to help Jack support Ian.

"The bed's drenched, Daniel," Jack said. "We'll put him on the couch for now, and remake it. It can't be good to keep him in a wet bed."

"Janet said not to give him anything to drink and to keep him warm."

Which sounded about right to Jack.

"_Ano dirsartium… mortus dic sepkian…"_

"What's he saying?" Jack asked as he and Daniel carried Ian out into the living room.

"I don't know, Jack… something about death coming in the shadows or something…"

It wasn't really Ancient. At least, not as Daniel had heard it – although he had to admit that he hadn't actually ever heard _true_ Ancient, before. What he'd heard – and spoke, haltingly – was the old Latin derivative that Daniel had looked at extensively when Jack had had the Ancient's knowledge downloaded into his head. – It was a language that was centuries out of use – and what _Ian_ was speaking was similar to it, but not exact.

"What's he saying _that_ for?"

Daniel shrugged.

"I don't think he knows what he's saying…"

Yeah, that was pretty obvious, really, because they were both pretty sure Ian didn't even realize he was being carried out of his room and settled on the sofa, where Jack piled a couple more blankets on him.

"Now what?" He asked Daniel.

"That was all she said; keep him warm and don't give him anything to drink. She said she's on her way."

"You stay with him, then," Jack ordered, running his hand along Ian's cheek and brow once more – he was burning up. "I'm going to go change the bed so we can put him back there if Fraiser wants to…"

Daniel nodded, and moved around to the front of the couch so he could keep Ian from rolling off. Wrapped in the blankets like he was, if he fell, he'd never be able to catch himself. Not that Daniel figured he'd even be able to try.


	36. 36

Keeping Ian warm wasn't going to be a problem. As far as Jack and Daniel could tell, he was already _way_ too warm for his own good. As soon as Jack had stripped Ian's bed and remade it with clean dry sheets, he came back into the living room and he and Daniel carried Ian back into the bedroom, unwrapped him and put him under the sheet, then piled the blankets back up on him, tucking them around him snugly.

"Think he managed to catch pneumonia?" Daniel asked.

Jack shook his head.

"It doesn't make sense. We were both out there just as long as he was, and were just as wet. I feel fine. You?"

Daniel shrugged.

"I don't feel _sick_."

"It's gotta be something else, then."

Jack sat on the edge of Ian's bed, watching the cadet, who apparently had fallen asleep again – or passed out. He was flushed and sweaty – already the sheets were becoming damp once more – and O'Neill turned to Daniel.

"Go get a wet towel or something. We'll see if we can cool him off a bit."

Daniel nodded and left the room, heading for the kitchen. Before he reached it, though, there was a sharp rap on the door and it swung open, admitting Janet who was carrying a black bag that Daniel recognized as her basic Doctor's Bag, and trailed by Cassie, who looked pale and scared.

"Where is he?" Janet asked without preamble.

"In the bedroom."

Daniel pointed to the hall, and Janet headed that direction, then stopped and looked at Cassie.

"Wait here."

"But-"

"I _mean_ it."

Cassie knew better than to argue with her mother when she was in Doctor mode, so she nodded, and Janet disappeared down the hall, while Cassie turned on Daniel.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," Daniel told her, honestly. "We got here and found him like that."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"I'm sure he is. Your mom's the best, after all." He held up the wet dishtowel he'd soaked with cold water while talking. "I'm going to go take this in there. Don't worry, okay?"

Easier said than done, though, and Daniel knew it as well as Cassie did.

OOOOOOO

Jack looked up when Janet came through the door, and was relieved that it was her and not Daniel returning. He stood up, but Janet didn't say anything right away; she simply came over and set her bag down on the edge of the bed, and opened it, pulling out a thermometer and a blood pressure cuff. Pulling the blankets down to reveal Ian's upper body, she frowned, even as she lifted his limp arm to put the cuff on it.

"Take that bandage off his side, Colonel," she ordered, pumping air into the cuff and positioning the stethoscope so she could hear his pulse at the same time.

Jack did what she told him too. The bandage was startling white against the dark purple bruising that was only barely starting to turn yellow around the edges – a souvenir of the branch that had slapped Ian when it had strung Jack up. He pulled it off, revealing the small cut that had started to close, and turned to Fraiser, who had already taken Ian's temperature.

"How is he?"

"He's fevered – dangerously so."

"Pneumonia?"

Janet shook her head, moving her stethoscope from the blood pressure cuff to the Cadet's chest, listening to his heart and lungs.

"His lungs are clear." She frowned, running her hand gently along his cheek – far more gently than Jack would have expected, considering how pissed she was at him. "He's not sick."

"He _looks_ sick…"

She shook her head, and removed the blood pressure cuff.

"I meant, he doesn't have the flu, or pneumonia, or anything like that. Those all come with congestion of the lungs and trouble breathing, and Ian's lungs are clear. If anything…"

She frowned, and her hand moved from his cheek down his chest and to the bruising on his side. She pressed her fingers lightly against the edges of the cut, and her frown deepened. Reaching into her bag, Janet pulled out a long needle – one that didn't have a syringe attached to it.

"What are you doing with tha-"

"Hush…"

She probed the edge of the cut with the lancing needle, and a moment later Jack made a face when a large amount of pus came trickling out of the small cut – which Janet had just reopened.

"_There_ it is," Janet said, leaning over the Cadet to get a better view. "He has an infection."

"That little thing?"

Janet nodded, still probing the edges of the cut, and now bringing out her penlight to get a better look.

"Blood poisoning, too," she said, pointing to a couple of very thin red lines. "The bruising is hiding the tell tale marks – and if not for the pus, I never would have noticed them."

"Will he be okay?"

"Probably."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a blood sample kit, and quickly took a small vial of blood from Ian's forearm, and then gave him an injection of a fair amount of an amber fluid into the same vein.

"I'm going to have this analyzed to make sure I'm right, but a series of antibiotics should break the infection."

"And the fever?"

"We'll use-"

They looked up when Daniel knocked on the door, carrying the wet towel in his hand.

"Wet towels and icepacks," Janet said, waving Daniel over. "It's as good as anything else."

"How is he?" Daniel asked, coming over and handing the towel to Janet, who immediately began running it carefully along Ian's face and neck, and then down to his chest.

"He has an infectio-"

"_Cado di Palatinias_…"

All three of them looked down at Ian, who had reacted not to the injection or the sting of having blood drawn, but to the cool wet cloth on his heated skin.

"What did he say?" Jack asked Daniel.

"What was that?" Fraiser asked.

"Daniel thinks it's Ancient," Jack said.

"I said it _sounds_ like Ancient," Daniel corrected. "It's Latin, really, but it's similar to what Jack was speaking when he had the Ancient's-"

"What did he say?"

Daniel shrugged.

"Something about something falling – or the fall of something… I don't know…"

"Does he _speak_ Latin?" Janet asked, curiously.

Daniel nodded.

"I've heard him speaking it before."

"There you go, then. It's probably just rambling…" She ran the cloth along his belly, avoiding the small cut or the moment. "We should transfer him to the SGC where I can take proper care of him…"

"Is he going to be okay?" Daniel asked.

"I think so… but I'll want to check this sample…"

"Cassie's going to bust in here any minute…"

Jack looked over at Fraiser, surprised.

"You brought _Cassie_?"

Janet nodded.

"She wanted to come. She was worried…" She realized that Jack didn't know what she knew about Ian, and was probably still operating under the assumption that indecencies had occurred between Ian and Cassie. "Things aren't as bad as we thought they are, Colonel," Janet said. "I'll explain it later, but I'm not-"

"_Depet reshwet herew."_

They both looked at Daniel again, but he shrugged, wishing he had his reference books with him if they were going to ask for translations.

"That wasn't Latin… it was Goa'uld…"

And it had something to do with dying…


	37. 37

The creature looked almost human, but there were several noticeable differences. One of them being the odd shape of its face and the things hanging out of its chin – that kind of gave it a catfish look. Another were its crazy eyes, and the lack of real hair – it had an odd-looking dread lock thing going on. And the creature exuded evil and hatred.

It didn't frighten Ian like the Ashrak had once frightened him, though. Even though he was dreaming about a creature he'd never seen before – and a dangerous creature at that – it wasn't something for him to be afraid of. No more than the Goa'uld were something he was afraid of. It was something that needed dealing with, however, he knew. Something that would eventually pose a danger to those he cared about. And those he didn't.

"_It's called a_ Wraith_…"_

_Ian felt the Presence join him, and he could still hear a trace of sorrow in the deep, timeless voice._

_"Where are they?"_

_"Far away, Ian. There are other things to worry about first."_

_"But-"_

_"Jack's worried about you."_

_Ian felt a stab of hurt that had nothing to do with the bruise on his side or the cut, or even how awful he felt – even asleep like he knew he was._

_"No, he's not. He hates me."_

_"You know better than that."_

_"I_ thought _I did," Ian corrected. "But now-"_

_"Nothing has changed. He was on his way to come talk to you when he found you ill."_

_"He was probably on his way to yell at me some more."_

_There was gentle amusement. Which actually made Ian feel good, too, because he knew what Alexander had lost recently._

_"Jack yells at everyone."_

_True. Ian didn't say anything, though. He couldn't. He knew how Jack felt about him. Jack thought he'd taken advantage of Cassie, and hated him for it. That was-_

_"He knows the truth, now," Alexander told him. "Cassandra Fraiser told her mother, who told Sam and Jack."_

_"What?"_

_"Apparently the good doctor tricked her daughter into telling her what happened – probably since she knew you weren't going to say anything. You're going to have to work on your self-preservation skills, boy, or we're going to have this kind of situation far more than-"_

_"You know I don't_ like _being called_ _that," Ian told him, grumpily._

_"And I've told you that when you become as old as_ I _am, you'll be allowed to call people whatever you want."_

_Ian didn't argue. What would be the point?_

_"Cassie told them what happened?" He almost cringed with embarrassment for her, and with remembered self-loathing at the way he'd treated her that night. She hadn't deserved that._

_"She did. You'd better wake up and start trying to piece things back together, because things are coming to a head, and SG-1 needs to be fully functional when it does."_

_Before Ian could ask him what was coming, the Presence had vanished, leaving only him._

OOOOOOOOO

A cool hand brushing along his cheek brought Ian back to reality. And he was sorry it had. He didn't feel well, and now that he was sort of awake, he could almost remember coming around a few other times, hearing voices in his head, and hands on his body, and being moved around a lot. He felt exhausted, even though he hadn't been doing anything, but he couldn't remember exactly what had happened – which didn't happen very often.

He moved his head, slightly, trying to figure out where he was without opening his eyes.

"Relax, Ian…"

"Mom…?"

He was still a little out of it, and in his mind, he'd placed himself with the one person he wanted touching him the most just then.

"No, Ian… just relax, okay?"

The voice belonged to Janet Fraiser, he realized, and Ian also realized it had to be her hand on his cheek. He moved his head again, away from her touch. There was a very short list of people he wanted touching him – and Fraiser wasn't on it. Even moving his head made him tired, though, and he was glad she moved her hand, because he couldn't have dodged her much longer.

"How do you feel?"

"Where am I?"

He didn't open his eyes. He didn't think they'd stay open anyways.

"At the SGC. I had to bring you here so I could keep an eye on you. You've been very sick."

"It's just a cold…"

The hand came back to his face once more, and even though it was cool and gentle, he hated it there, because he knew how she really felt about him and he didn't want her fake sympathy.

"It's not a _cold_ at all," Janet told him, gently. "It's an infection."

"Am I dying?"

Janet looked down at him, wondering why he wasn't opening his eyes, and shook her head, her hand running along his face, feeling the fever that still burned him, but was nowhere near as dangerous as it had been. He'd fought the infection off beautifully once they'd known what it was and had started him on antibiotics. The benefits of being young and healthy, she knew.

"No. We managed to isolate the-"

"Then go away…" Ian said, moving his head once more away from her touch, although he was running out of pillow, now.

Janet frowned, moving her hand, but she didn't chew him out as she might have. For one thing, she knew that as far as he was concerned, she was still angry with him – there was no way he could know she knew the truth about that night – and for another, he was sick, and petulance _always_ seemed to accompany being sick. She'd allow it – this time.

"Get some rest, Ian," she told him gently, pulling the blankets up a bit and tucking him in. "We'll talk later."

Before he could comment on that, Janet moved away from the bed. She had a couple other patients to check on, and knew that the others would want to know Ian had woken up and spoken to her lucidly – finally.


	38. 38

He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he was aware of was waking once more. This time he was lying on his side – the uninjured side – and there was something heavy pressing against his back. He tried to roll over, but the weight was braced right up against him, stopping him from moving any direction but the one he was facing – and he was already at the edge of the bed.

He mumbled something even he couldn't understand, trying to figure out what was behind him but too tired and lethargic to even try to wriggle clear of it. The weight moved on its own, however, and his own question was answered a moment later when it started licking his ear, a soft rumbling noise accompanying the licking.

"Stop…"

He tried to move his head away, but the weight was suddenly on top of him, the licking more ferocious, now, pinning him, and there were only so many places he could go.

"Jaffer… stop…"

There was a happy rumble, but the licking still didn't stop, and Ian wasn't sure whether to laugh at how helpless he felt, or to cry.

"Jaffer."

A new voice with far more authority than his own weak whisper came from behind them, and the licking stopped immediately, although Ian could feel the black lab's tail thumping against the small of his back.

"Move off him," Sam said, walking over to the bed and motioning for Jaffer to move off the bed completely. She waited for the lab to comply – which he did with a rumble of disappointment – and then sat down on the edge of Ian's bed and reached out, taking hisshoulder carefully and helping him roll over onto his back. He looked tired – and a bit soggy – but better than he had the last time she'd checked on him. His dark eyes weren't quite as glassy as they had been, and she was pretty sure he recognized her this time.

She smiled down at him, and gently ran her hand along his cheek, and Ian closed his eyes.

"Tired?"

He nodded, and she felt tired just watching him. Of course, she was tired, so that probably didn't help things.

"Janet says that you're pretty much out of the woods, now. It's just a matter of getting your strength back."

Yeah, well… what did _she_ know? Of course, Ian wasn't going to say that to Sam. Instead he opened his eyes again, not wanting her to worry.

"I'm fine…"

It might have sounded a bit more genuine if he hadn't croaked it out, and Sam smiled, reaching for the untouched glass of water that was sitting on the table beside his bed. She held it against his lips and he took a sip, feeling foolish at needing her to hold it for him – but he couldn't have brought his arm up just then to save his life. The water felt good – better than being licked, anyways – and he took another long sip before she moved the glass away and set it back down.

"Better?"

He nodded.

"Thanks."

Sam nodded, her eyes on his, holding his attention.

"The next time you aren't feeling well, you need to tell someone before it gets this bad…"

Ian shook his head.

"Who was I supposed to tell? _Fraiser_? She'd just as leave I-"

"Me."

"You have too much on your plate already, Sam," Ian told her, closing his eyes, tiredly. "There's Jacob… and SG-1 going offworld without you, worrying you… all those experiments…"

She frowned, wondering why Ian mentioned her father as something she had to worry about. She wasn't even aware that he knew Jacob was a Tok'ra.

"Just don't do it again, okay?"

Since it was far easier to agree with her than argue with her, Ian nodded.

And Sam turned to another topic that was just as important.

"Cassie's outside… she _has_ been since the last time you woke up…"

He didn't say anything, unsure what Sam wanted from him.

"She's afraid you're never going to want to see her again…"

"She's right."

Surprising him, Sam smiled.

"Never play poker, Ian… _ever_. You're the worst liar I've ever seen – even sick."

He scowled, and tried to turn away, but Sam's hand was on his shoulder and she was the one person in the entire SGC that he'd never shrug off. He wondered briefly what it was about her that made him act like that – almost like he acted with his own mother – but she didn't give him a chance to think about that.

"You're going to have to see her eventually."

"No, I won't," Ian said, shaking his head. "Fraiser won't let me, and Ja- _Colonel_ O'Neill would probably just as soon shoot me as let me talk to her…"

He couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice, even though none of it was Sam's fault, but she understood, and didn't take it personally.

"We know what _really_ happened."

"It doesn't matter."

"Of course it does."

He shook his head.

"It was just a misunderstanding…"

"Jack and Janet both over reacted."

He didn't care about Fraiser's reaction. He _expected_ her to hate him anyways, so it wasn't a big shock when she'd automatically assumed the worst of him. It had been _Jack's_ reaction that had hurt him. But he wasn't going to tell Sam that. He'd hide it from her, because she didn't deserve to have to deal with his own hurts as well as worry about everything else, but Sam knew…

"He _does_ trust you, you know… With his life – and with _mine_, since you know he's let you drive me home far more times than he's ever let anyone else."

"He has a funny way of showing it…"

Of course, there was nothing funny about any of it.

"You don't understand, Ian," Sam told him. "This time it had nothing to do with you… it's all about Cassie."

Yeah; he'd figured that one out on his own. They hated him because they thought he'd violated Cassie. But Sam wasn't finished. She could see the expression in his eyes – he really was very bad at hiding his feelings – and knew he needed an explanation. The truth, even.

"What has Cassie told you about herself? Where she's from…?"

Ian shrugged, wondering why she was asking.

"She's Canadian… and adopted…"

There were more things, but he wasn't sure what else she wanted to know.

Sam nodded. There was no reason to think Cassandra would have told Ian the truth, of course. Even if he was holding high clearance, now, it wasn't like it was something you could just bring up into conversation.

"Jack and Janet are a lot more protective of Cassie than they are anyone else, Ian…" Except maybe her. "But there's a reason for that."

Unwilling to be ignored any longer, Jaffer jumped back up onto the bed, and Sam cuddled the lab to her side to keep him from distracting her.

"Cassie's _not_ Canadian, Ian… she's from a lot further away than that…"

And Sam started telling Ian the story of how they'd found her – and Ian listened, more and more amazed with every word…


	39. 39

Ian didn't interrupt Sam the entire time she was talking to him. She might have thought he'd fallen back to sleep if not for the fact that his eyes were open and watching her intently while she spoke. She told him of their original meeting and subsequent rescue of Cassie, how they'd brought her home with them only to find that she'd been booby trapped and how they'd saved her from that in the last minute – downplaying her own role a bit.

Then she told Ian about how Janet had taken her in and adopted her, and how things had been fairly smooth for a few years until the whole Nirrti thing had popped up when Cassie had hit puberty – once again putting Cassie into jeopardy, and how Jack and Janet had finally made the deal with Nirrti and sent her off in exchange for helping Cassie.

"So you see…" Sam said, when she'd finished. "Cassie's had it pretty rough, and Jack and Janet probably can't even help the fact that they're so overprotective of her, because they've been protecting her for so long now."

"So… she's not human?"

Sam smiled.

"She's as human as you and I are, Ian. She's just not from around here."

Ian felt like crying. Not because of the bad things that had happened to Cassie – which were bad enough – but because he'd added to that with his own actions the night of the dance. He'd treated her no better than any of the Goa'uld had, and for that he _did_ deserve to be hated. By Jack, or Janet, it didn't matter, because he hated himself for what he'd done.

Sam noticed the look of desolation in his eyes, and was concerned. It wasn't quite the response she'd hoped for.

"Ian? Are-"

"She's never going to speak to me…"

"Of course she is," Sam said, reaching down with the hand that wasn't holding Jaffer and touching his shoulder, reassuringly.

"I was awful to her, Sam… you don't understand… I was angry… and she wasn't listening to me… and I told her all sorts of things I didn't mean…"

She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Those things can be forgiven. Jack and Janet were awful to _you_… _they_ were angry… and weren't listening to you, and told _you_ all sorts of things that I know they didn't mean…"

"That's not the same…"

"It's close enough," Sam said. "Just tell her you're sorry. I'll bet you a dollar she forgives you before the words are out of your mouth."

He didn't look quite as sure of that as she sounded, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he held her hand for a moment longer, his thoughts everywhere.

"Will you see her?" Sam asked him after a few minutes.

"I don't think she'll-"

"Trust me, Ian…"

He looked up at her. Of course he trusted her; she was the only on who hadn't turned on him, after all. Besides, she knew Cassie better than he did; maybe she was right. He nodded, and was rewarded with a smile from Sam, who stood up, getting off the bed and taking Jaffer with her.

"I'll send her in."

He nodded, and watched her go, then sighed and closed his eyes. He wasn't going to fall asleep, but God, he was tired. Emotionally drained. Physically exhausted. And glad deep down that others knew what had happened between him and Cassie and wouldn't judge him for that anymore.

"Ian…?"

He heard her voice, hesitant and unsure, and opened his eyes again. She was standing right beside his bed – he hadn't heard her walk in, and hadn't heard her close the door behind her. She looked like she'd sounded; uncertain and a little tired, her eyes red – he hoped not from crying, although it looked like she might have been. She was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, but she looked just as good like that as she had in her formal dress – and out of it, he had to admit.

"Hi."

It wasn't much, but it was all he could think to say.

"Hi…"

Again he felt like shit. He was supposed to be making things _better_ for her, and all he could do was say hi? Jesus, what was she thinking wanting anything to do with a loser like him?

"Cassie… I… I'm sorry about the way I treated you. It was wrong, and I didn't mean what I said. I… I was…"

"You were _right_," she told him, still standing there, wringing her hands nervously. "I was acting like a sk-"

"No… you're _not_ a skank, Cassandra… I had no right to call you that. No one has that right. I'm sorry I hurt you…"

Cassie bit her lower lip, which had started trembling, and now there _were_ tears in her eyes, Ian saw. He felt his heart break, and patted the spot on the bed next to him, indicating for her to sit down.

When she did, though, he couldn't help himself; he pulled her into down his arms, hugging her tightly against his bare chest with her head tucked under his chin. Cassie wrapped her arms round him as well as she could, and broke down, crying into his shoulder.

He didn't hate her, after all.

"I'm sorry, Ian…" she stammered, her voice muffled by tears and his shoulder. "I put you into a bad spot, and you didn't deserve that, and it got everyone mad at you, and I-"

"Shhh…"

He rubbed her back, gently, caressing her and calming her. The last thing he needed was for Fraiser to come in and check on him only to find Cassie sobbing in his arms. Bad enough he had her stretched out beside him in the bed now – even though she was on the blankets and he was under them. He turned his head and brushed a kiss against her temple.

"It's okay, Cassandra… don't cry…"

She did, though. She'd been far too uncertain what the outcome of their next conversation was going to be, and had had several scenarios go through her mind over and over – and all of them had been terrible ones, nothing like what was happening – to be able to calm down immediately. Instead, she clung to him, knowing that she shouldn't be holding him so tight with him being so sick, still, but unable to help herself just then.

"Don't be mad at me…"

"Never…" he promised her, softly, closing his eyes and rubbing her back.

By the time Cassie had cried herself out and was simply holding onto him, Ian had fallen asleep again, his arms still around her, although limply, now. Cassie didn't noticed right away, and when she _did_ finally realize it, she wasn't hurt by it. It didn't mean he was angry with her or anything, after all, it just meant he was tired. She pulled out of his arms, carefully, to keep from waking him, and saw that she'd left a wet smear of tears along his shoulder and chest.

Her eyes went lower, to the dark bruise that ran along his side, from his ribs down to his hip. The bruising was fading a bit, now, and the red streaks that had been indicators of the blood poisoning had already started fading as well – although Cassie had ever seen them, and wouldn't, now. She reached down and took the edge of the blanket and pulled it up over him to keep him warm, resisting the impish desire to look under the blanket and see if he was wearing anything.

Tucking the blanket around him, she leaned over and kissed him lightly, and then got off the bed. They'd need to talk again – and soon – but she felt better than she had in days, and there was a considerable lightness to her step when she headed for the door.


	40. 40

Walking through the corridors of the SGCtwenty minutes after she left the infirmary, Sam ran into the person she'd been waiting for. She'd known he was coming, because Jaffer – who was walking beside her – had given her plenty of warning, and she stopped at the corner before he could round it and crash into her.

Jack smiled when he saw Sam standing in the hall when he came around the corner. He knelt and made a fuss over Jaffer who hated to be ignored – but his eyes were only on her.

"How was your day?"

"Tame. We started tinkering with that device that SG-5 brought back from their last trip, but I think I'm going to wait and let Ian have a look at it before I go much further. He has a knack for engineering, and he might be able to figure out what it does…"

Jack's expression changed slightly at the mention of Ian, although you'd have to know him well to notice. Sam, of course, saw it immediately, and knew what caused it. Jack wasn't sure what to do about Ian, now that he knew the truth. Oh, he knew what he _had_ to do – he had to apologize for being the world's biggest bastard and jumping to conclusions – he just didn't know how to do it that could possibly clear things between him and Ian. The rift was pretty big, after all – and _that_ was Jack's fault, too, and he knew it.

"How's he doing?"

"He's coming along. Still feverish – although nothing like before – and he's weak and tires easily, but that'll improve once he breaks the fever and starts eating solid food and getting his strength back." Knowing the subject was a particularly tender one she changed to something else. "How was the trip? Still raining?"

Jack shook his head, standing up.

"Muddier than hell, but the rain stopped. We went back and found those buildings of Daniel's, and he spent all day looking through them, mumbling excitedly to himself about who knows what."

"How did Hines do?"

Jack scowled.

"Don't ask."

"That good?"

Jack snorted.

"He spent the day whining about getting his boots muddy."

"What did _you_ do?"

"Had Teal'c scowl at him a few times."

"And it worked?"

"Well enough, yeah."

Of course, Jack hadn't spent all _that_ much time in the buildings area, so he hadn't had to put up with too much whining from Ian's temporary replacement – or Daniel's excited mumbling.

Sam looked down.

"_Your_ boots are clean."

"I've already changed. And debriefed."

He slid his arm around her, and the two of them headed back for the infirmary. He still needed to do his post-mission checkup – something that Janet Fraiser was now insisting no one _ever_ missed – but Sam could come along for that. It wasn't going to take long.

"What are we doing tonight?" He asked her as they made the short walk back to the infirmary.

"I don't have any plans. Do you?"

"Quiet time at home?"

She nodded.

"Sounds good."

As they walked into the infirmary, Cassie was talking to her mother. The girl looked a lot better than she had, Jack decided, and when she looked over at him, he saw her eyes were red, but the smile she flashed him was a cheerful one. Obviously, something had happened, because the last time he'd seen her – the evening before, here, at the infirmary – she'd looked about ready to cry.

"Hi, Jack."

He smiled, and was surprised when she came over and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Cassie had been a little shy around him the last couple of days – mainly because of embarrassment, he knew – and she'd been more or less avoiding him. Now she was apparently over that. Which was good, because Jack really didn't want her to be avoiding him.

He hugged her back, and brushed a kiss against her cheek.

"Hi, sweetheart. How are you?"

"Great."

Which told him without asking that Ian was doing better, since she'd been moping around the infirmary as much as she could, hovering outside the door that led to Ian's private room. She hadn't been there that morning, since Janet had made her go to school, but he was sure that this had been her first stop when school had let out – which meant Fraiser would have had to go get her.

"Colonel O'Neill," Janet's welcome looked a little relieved as well. Probably just because Cassie was looking so much better, Jack decided. "How was the weather?"

"It was fine, Doc. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"We'll see."

She smiled at Sam and led O'Neill off to get checked out, followed closely by Jaffer, and Sam turned to Cassie.

"So?"

Cassie's smile turned brilliant.

"We talked… and he held me… and he said he was sorry and I told him _I_ was, too, but he wouldn't even let me apologize…"

Sam smiled as well.

"Please tell me your mom didn't walk in on you while he was holding you?"

"She didn't," Cassie said, blushing just a little. "But it wouldn't have mattered. _We've_ talked, too, you know? She's going to try and loosen up a little about me dating Ian. She figures she owes him that much at least."

Actually, Sam knew Janet thought she owed Ian a lot more than that, but like Jack, Janet had no idea what to do about it. Some things just seemed too broken to fix, sometimes. Sam had given them both the same advice she'd given Ian about Cassie, but so far Ian had apparently been the only one to listen to her. Of course, Ian was also stuck in a bed and pretty much forced to listen to her, but still…

"Ready?"

Sam was brought from her thoughts by Jack, who was walking over with Janet once more.

"Done already?"

"He's healthy, Sam," Janet said. "I just wanted to make sure, that's all."

She'd never make that mistake again.

"See? I'm _healthy_."

Sam smiled.

"Good, I wanted some furniture moved tonight…"

Jack frowned, and ran his hand along his forearm, looking over at Janet.

"You know… now that I think of it, my wrist is a little sore… maybe it's sprained or something…?"

Janet smiled, but Sam pulled Jack away with a laugh that was echoed by Cassie.

"Smart ass. Let's go get some dinner. I'm hungry."

He slid his arm around her again, nodding a goodbye to Janet and Cassie and walked with Sam out of the infirmary.


	41. 41

When Janet entered the infirmary the next morning, the first thing she did was check on Ian. Not only because she was well aware that it washer fault he was as sick as he was – if she hadn't allowed her personal feelings toward the boy interfere with her professionalism, he'd never have been able to slip an infection like the one he had past her – but also because she was worried about his fever. He had responded well to the antibiotics, but the fever should have broken completely by then – it was Tuesday, now, and he'd been in her infirmary since Saturday afternoon – and it hadn't as of the night before. It wasn't as dangerous as it had been – nowhere near – but it was fighting the medications, and with any kind of alien injury, she was naturally cautious.

She peeked into the room, hoping to find him awake, but he wasn't. He was rolled over on his side, his blankets pulled up around his chin, but his arm bare and out in the open, and when she came over she saw he had managed to tangle his IV wire and pull it out. Not deadly or anything, but it had to be uncomfortable for him – or would have been if he'd been awake. Resting her hand lightly on his cheek and then forehead, she reached for the chart hanging on the wall and was pleased to see that his fever had finally broken sometime the night before. Which was probably why he hadn't thrown his blankets off as he had been the past couple days.

She cleaned him up quickly and gently, moving the IV and cleaning the area that the needle had been, but she didn't bother to go get a new IV or needle. If his fever was broken, then he was ready to get back on solid food, which would get him feeling better faster. Instead, she tucked the blankets tighter around him, made several notations on his chart and left him to sleep.

OOOOOOOOOO

When he woke the next time, it was on his own. No licking dogs, no one running their hands all over him. Just his body saying that it was time to open his eyes and take a look around and see what was going on. He did just that; opening his eyes, and rolling over onto his back, looking up at the ceiling, sleepily.

What day was it? Was he still in the infirmary? A simple look around answered the second question, but when he looked at his wrist to check the time and the day he saw he wasn't wearing his watch, and he frowned. Then he shivered a little, because it was kind of cold, and the blankets he'd been covered with had slipped when he'd woken up and were around his waist again.

Ian pulled them up, wishing for a shirt – a big heavy sweatshirt would be great – and a quick glance under his blanket made him think some sweats wouldn't be a bad idea, either. No wonder he was cold; he wasn't wearing anything.

Of course, he remembered something about being overly warm, so he suspected that they'd left him naked for good reason, but he didn't feel warm any more. He was _cold_. And somewhat grumpy because of it. And that grumpiness was made even worse by the fact that after only about ten minutes of lying in his bed, he was bored, too.

Then the door opened, and things went from bad to probably worse. Doctor Fraiser walked through the door, carrying a tray that smelled delicious. Which might mean things weren't quite so bad, after all. But he wasn't going to get his hopes up.

She smiled, glad to see him awake and looking a little more alert – although he did look wary as well when he looked at her – but she could understand that, and knew that it was her own fault, so she couldn't hold it against him.

"Good morning. How are you feeling?"

He frowned. Her voice and attitude were certainly more cheerful and kind than he expected – even though he knew that she didn't suspect him of doing anything with Cassie anymore.

"Okay…" He said, forcing himself up into a sitting position and eyeing the tray in her hands.

"Hungry?"

She hadn't missed the way he was watching the food she was carrying, and she was glad she had brought it. If he was that hungry, then it was a good sign.

He nodded.

"Good. We're going to try you on solid food again, but I don't want you to go crazy and eat too quickly, okay? You'll just make yourself sick."

"Okay."

She set the tray on his lap, folding the legs down do they rested on either side of his legs, and then sat down on the edge of the bed, watching him as intently as he'd been watching the food she had brought. She had to make her peace with him, and was still uncertain how to do it, but decided that she might as well give it a go while she still had him in bed where he had to listen to her. More or less.

"You and I need to have a talk…"

Ian paused in mid reach, looking at her instead of the slice of toast he'd been grabbing for, and Janet saw the wariness return tenfold. He was really very bad at hiding what he felt, and she hoped he wasn't planning on ever trying to be a diplomat or a politician.

"About what?" He asked, wondering if she'd found out about him hugging Cassie the day before.

"I owe you an apology," Janet said. "A huge apology. I made an assumption that I shouldn't have, and treated you in a way you didn't deserve because of it. Because of that, I also endangered you, and allowed you to get sick and-"

"It's not _your_ fault I got sick," Ian told her. As surprised as he was that she was saying she was sorry for _anything_, he couldn't let her think she had to apologize for something that she didn't have any control over. "I was-"

"The health of the people in the SGC is my responsibility," Janet told him, obviously angry with herself. "That includes you. And I allowed myself to forget that in my anger. That wasn't just wrong, it was _incredibly_ wrong."

He shrugged, uncertain what to say, and Janet saw that, too.

"Anyways, I'm sorry, Ian. I hope you can believe that."

What he couldn't believe was that she was apologizing in the first place, but Ian nodded. She certainly sounded sincere to him.

"It's no big deal…"

Which wasn't true, and Janet knew it. She appreciated the effort, though, and smiled, grateful he wasn't being vindictive – because she definitely would have deserved it, and she knew it.

"Thank you."

He shrugged again, but she could see that he'd lost the wariness in his expression, and that was a good start. While she didn't think they'd ever really become great friends, she didn't want him to constantly be worried that she was going to drive a knife in his back, either.

"You're welcome."

She nodded; it was a good start.

"You eat that – slowly – and I'll come back and check on you in a little while."

"Yes, Ma'am…"

She got up and headed for the door, but his voice stopped her before she reached it.

"Um… Doctor Fraiser?"

She turned, and he gestured at himself.

"Any chance I could get some clothes?"

Janet smiled.

"I'll have some brought in."

"Thanks."

She left the room, and Ian turned his attention back to his breakfast, feeling far less grumpy than he had when he'd woken up.


	42. 42

By the time Ian had finished eating, the promised clothing had arrived. It wasn't much; a set of light blue surgical scrubs, but it was more than he'd had, and he was warmer almost immediately for it. The medic that brought the clothing took his tray for him, and asked Ian if there was anything else he'd wanted. According to the man, Fraiser had said he could have pretty much anything he wanted by way of food – apparently she was trying to fatten him up a little – and was allowed most any company. The only thing he wasn't allowed just yet was to try and get out of bed – aside from a much needed trip to the bathroom that he'd needed help with and was wiped out afterwards for several minutes

Sam came by and spent a few minutes with him late that morning, but she didn't stay long, and she was alone when came.

"Where's Jaffer?"

"Offworld with SG-1," Sam told him, smiling as she leaned over and pushed down an errant hair that was sticking up the wrong direction from Ian's forehead. She was so used to seeing him immaculately groomed that it was kind of cute when he wasn't – although she had to admit he looked a lot better healthy than he did sick.

Ian felt a stab of regret that he wasn't offworld with SG-1 also, and probably wouldn't be again after what had happened between Jack and himself. Sam, of course, noticed immediately.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head, lowering his eyes.

"Nothing."

She knew better. And she had a fair idea of what it was, but she didn't say anything. The two of them would work it out, she was certain. Until then…

"I bet I know what can cheer you up…"

He looked up, but Sam didn't say anything else. Instead, she leaned over – awkwardly – and kissed his cheek.

"That was nice..." he told her, uncertainly. Not that he didn't _like_ Sam... but...

Sam laughed, and slapped his shoulder, lightly as she got off the bed where she'd been sitting.

"That wasn't it, young man, so don't get your hopes up."

With that, she headed for the door, which opened before she reached it. And Cassie walked through, smiling at Sam before her eyes went to Ian, who immediately felt better.

"_That's_ it," Sam called over her shoulder, walking out the door and closing it behind her.

Unsure what she was talking about, Cassie watched as Sam left, and then walked over to Ian's bed, looking down at him with a hesitant smile.

"Hi."

Ian's smile was welcoming, and made her feel a lot surer of herself almost immediately.

"Hey, Cassandra. What are you doing here?"

She shrugged.

"Half day for Seniors – to order caps and gowns and stuff. I thought I'd come and visit you, and mom said it was okay for you to have company."

He patted the spot next to him on the bed – there wasn't a chair in his room for her to sit on, and he'd rather she was right next to him, anyways – and Cassie took the invitation and sat down, looking him over with the practiced eye of a doctor's kid.

"You look better today."

He looked down at himself.

"At least I'm dressed."

"Too bad."

She blushed, immediately, and inwardly cringed, reminded so vividly of the night of the dance just then.

"I mean-"

To her surprise and relief, he chuckled, genuinely amused. He didn't mind her wanting to see his chest – at least he _assumed_ that was what she meant – it was flattering, and he had to admit, he liked the fact that she'd said it.

"Want me to take my shirt off? Or are you just interested in the bruise?"

Cassie smiled, still blushing.

"No. I mean… well… no. Mom probably wouldn't like that."

Ian reached out and took her hand, and Cassie scooted a little closer to him. Close enough that she was almost touching him, and suddenly the tension between them had nothing to do with him yelling at her the night of the Formal.

"Yeah, she probably wouldn't approve," he agreed, smiling and well aware of what she was doing to him just being this close to him. "And after this morning, I'm not going to do anything to piss her off."

"What happened this morning?"

"She apologized."

"Really?"

He nodded, and let go of her hand to slide his arm around her, hugging her lightly.

"Yup. So as much as I would love to show you my muscles and let you admire my bruise, I'm going to keep my shirt on."

Cassie melted against him, resting her cheek against his neck. She could feel the stubble on his jaw, but she didn't mind at all that it was raspy and a little irritating. All she could feel was his arm around her, and his lean body pressed against hers, even in that mostly innocent hug.

As nice as it was, though, it was an awkward position. And after a moment, she turned her head, kissed his neck lightly, and let him go – although she stayed right beside him.

"Has she told you when you'll be able to get up and around?"

He shook his head.

"I don't really feel ready to get up and around…" he admitted. That much was definitely true. He still felt weak and tired, although eating a solid breakfast that morning had really helped. He was tired, but not as lethargic as he'd been the day before, and he didn't feel like he was going to fall asleep at any moment.

"It'll probably be a couple more days," Cassie said, knowledgably. "Infections can be bad, and mom told me yours was really nasty – what with the blood poisoning and all."

He nodded, taking her word for it.

"How long can you stay?"

Cassie smiled.

"Depends…"

"On…?"

"Whether or not you want to help me with my homework so mom doesn't think I'm slacking and send me home to get it done there."

Ian smiled.

"What kind of homework?"

"English lit, and Physics…"

"Well… I could probably help you with the Physics."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Cassie admitted. "Sam said she'd help me, but I told her what was the use of having a genius boyfriend if I couldn't pick his brains every now and then?"

Ian snorted, amused. And he took her hand again.

"So… I guess it's an _official_ thing then? This boyfriend/girlfriend thing?"

Cassie blushed, but smiled – although it was a little hesitant.

"If you… want it to be…"

It wasn't at all what he'd planned for her. She didn't know that, of course, but he hadn't planned on more than keeping her away from other guys until River or someone more acceptable to her and her family came along. Someone _he_ approved of as well. But if he was honest with himself – and why not be this _once_? – he didn't want Cassie to be with anyone but him.

"I'm an asshole, you know… I can't promise that I won't be a jerk sometimes…"

Cassie smiled, squeezing his hand, gently.

"I'm not perfect, either." Hadn't she proved that nicely?

Ian nodded, looking down at her hand in his. That was nice.

"Then I guess it's official…"

He leaned over and kissed her, softly and tenderly. A more or less chaste kiss, but one with the promise of things to come – someday.

Cassie leaned into it, her free hand resting on his chest as she sighed in pleasure. Not because of the kiss – which was very nice – but because of his acceptance of her. She just couldn't help herself. She'd loved him since she'd met him, and now he was allowing that he might have feelings for her, too. It was perfect.

They pulled away reluctantly, but they both knew they had to, and Ian smiled.

"Go get your homework, crazy woman, and I'll help you with it. For a price…"

"Oh?"

"I want something to eat – I'm starving."

She laughed, and slid off the bed.

"I'll see what mom wants to feed you," she promised, heading for the door.


	43. 43

It was a pretty good day. Cassie spent almost two hours with Ian, and to his surprise, they were almost completely left alone during this time. The only people that came in were medics who actually _had_ to come in to take care of things. Like checking his temperature to make sure his fever was still knocked back and to give him his antibiotic doses since he'd been released from the confining IV that had been feeding the doses to him directly. None of these medics gave the impression of having been sent in to check on him and Cassie and Ian appreciated that obvious constraint on Fraiser's part.

And because of it, although he and Cassie spent a lot of time close together while he helped her with her homework – actually pretty much _did it_ for her since he was terrible at explaining things – the two of them didn't do anything Fraiser wouldn't have approved of, with the possible exception of a few stolen kisses, which were hardly more than G rated.

Eventually, though, he drifted off, tired from the day – even though he hadn't done anything. And Cassie left him to sleep, knowing she'd be allowed back later.

She came out of the room, closing the door softly behind her, and Janet saw her from her office and waved her in.

"How's he doing?"

"He fell asleep."

Her mom didn't even look surprised.

"Did you get your homework done?"

Cassie smiled and nodded.

"He's not a very good teacher, though. Sam probably would have been a better choice." But not as _entertaining_, although she didn't say that aloud.

Fraiser nodded.

"If you don't want to hang out here, you can go find Sam. We'll be going as soon as SG-1 returns."

"I'll stick around," Cassie offered. "If you have something for me to do."

Janet smiled, glad that Cassie wanted to spend a little time with her.

"We can find you something."

OOOOOOOOOO

When Ian woke up next, a rustling of paper pulled his attention almost immediately to his right. Daniel was there, sitting in a chair that hadn't been there earlier, reading through a thick stack of handwritten notes.

"Daniel?"

Ian wondered what he was doing there, when it would be a lot more comfortable to sit in his office reading, where the light was a lot better.

The archeologist looked up, and smiled when he saw Ian watching him.

"Ian. Hey. How are you feeling?"

Since he'd just woken up, Ian didn't really have a clue how he was feeling, only that he was sleepy. So he gave the generic answer.

"Fine."

"Good…"

Daniel was still looking at him, though, and Ian had a feeling he had more to say.

"How are you?"

"Fine… thanks."

And still he watched Ian. Who was wondering if he looked worse than he felt or something.

"I thought you guys were offworld?"

"We got back a couple hours ago."

"Oh."

They were quiet for a minute, watching each other, and just when Ian was about to make more small talk – something he just _never_ did – Daniel spoke up, finally.

"Have you ever been exposed to the language of the Ancients?"

Ian frowned, wondering why Daniel would ask him that, and was so surprised by the question that he answered before he could even try to lie – although he evaded it fairly well.

"The symbols on the Stargate are written in Ancient."

"What?"

"The symbols on the Stargate are Ancient."

Daniel stared at him.

"How do you know _that_?"

Ian shrugged, but didn't say anything.

"Are you _sure_?"

"They built the things, right? What other language would be on it? It's not Asgard or Goa'uld."

"Can you translate it?"

Ian shook his head.

"Can you speak it?"

He shook his head again. He had flashes of the language – and several others – going through his head almost all the time, but he couldn't consciously speak it yet. But he knew he'd be able to some day. That wasn't something that he was supposed to be sharing with the others, however. At least, not yet.

Daniel frowned, because he'd been positive that Ian had been speaking Ancient when he'd been delirious.

"I speak _Latin_," Ian said, shrugging. "It's close to Ancient, I remember you telling me…"

Daniel nodded. He didn't remember telling Ian that, but they'd had several conversations about the Ancients – mainly because Ian didn't mind listening to Daniel prattle on about pretty much anything – and so he could have mentioned that.

"But the symbols on the Stargate don't look like Latin…"

"Chinese and Japanese are somewhat related, but their characters aren't that close…"

Good point.

"I'll have to look into that…" Daniel said, more to himself than to Ian, but the Cadet nodded anyways, and leaned back into his pillows. He was way too tired to have a complicated conversation like that.

"Did you ever find out what the little buildings were?" Ian asked, changing the subject.

Daniel shrugged, looking from Ian back down to the notes in his hand.

"I'm still working on it," he said, easily being distracted from the questions about the Ancient's language – at least for the moment. "The translations are pretty easy, but the quality of the work is hard to read – the ones we found down in that little valley are in even worse shape than the ones we found in that single building, and it's hard to read them."

"If you want to leave some of the notes with me, I'll look through them, too," Ian offered. "It'd give me something to do…"

He wouldn't be as fast as Daniel, since Daniel had a gift for languages that Ian didn't – although Ian could learn them faster because of his memory.

Daniel hesitated, unsure if he should load Ian down with anything like that when he was supposed to be recuperating, but he nodded, finally.

"I'll go make copies of all this and bring them back before I go home. But if Janet says you have to rest, you have to do that instead…"

Ian nodded his agreement, and Daniel stood up, gathering his notes.

"I'll see you in a bit."


	44. 44

Janet was gone for the night, as Ian found out a bit later when a medic brought him in a light dinner. So when Daniel brought him back the copied paper, there was no one to keep him from looking them through and trying to help Daniel decipher them – although Daniel himself had to leave, since the doctors had decided (without Janet necessarily being there) that Ian had had enough visitors for the day and needed to rest.

Which was fine with both of them. Ian didn't mind the alone time, and Sally was waiting at home for Daniel – something that had immediately curbed his desire for long nights in his office at the SGC.

Ian ate his dinner – wishing there was a lot more, although the doctors promised him there would be once they were sure he was completely recovered – and then turned his attention to the papers. But he found the same thing Daniel had. The quality of the ruined symbols was terrible and they were incredibly hard to translate, because they were hard to read.

Frustrated, he gave up sometime late that night, and went to sleep, feeling a little grumpy and hot and miserable even though the day itself had been a very good one.

OOOOOOOO

"He relapsed in the night, but we caught it in plenty of time and knocked it back before it became serious."

Janet looked at the chart the evening shift doctor handed her and then down at the sleeping Cadet. Sure enough, according to the chart his temperature had risen several degrees in only a couple of short hours. Of course, since he was still in the infirmary and under careful watch, it had been caught immediately, and proper precautions had been taken, including a stiff dose of antibiotics to beat back the cause of the fever. It had worked almost immediately – although Janet was going to make sure he stayed in bed a few days longer, just to be on the safe side.

She hung the chart up and nodded.

"Good job. We'll keep an eye on him. You go ahead and head home."

"Yes, Ma'am."

He left the room, and Janet looked down at Ian again, pulling his blankets back up – he'd tossed them off several times in the night – and testing his forehead with her hand. Warm, but not too serious. Nothing to worry about, but she'd let the others know.

Ian woke at the touch, though, opening his eyes and looking up at her.

"Morning?"

She noticed this time that he didn't automatically try to move his head away from her hand, and was strangely touched by it.

"Yes. Go back to sleep, though, if you want to…"

Now he did move away from her hand, but only to turn and look at a stack of papers on the chair beside his bed – as if to make sure they were still there. Then he looked back up at her.

"I'm not tired…"

He _was_ a little warm, though, and wondered if they'd turned up the temperature in his room a bit. He pushed the blankets down, and scowled when Fraiser pulled them back up.

"You need to stay warm."

"I'm hot."

"Which is _why_ you need to stay warm."

And that made absolutely no sense to him, which made him scowl again. Janet smiled, understanding immediately.

"Your fever came back last night while you were sleeping."

"I'm sick again?"

"_Still_," Janet corrected. "You never were completely better."

"I was hoping to get up for a while today…"

She shook her head.

"That's probably not going to happen."

"Aw, come on, Doctor Fraiser…"

She shook her head, again, wondering if he'd been taking lessons from Jack O'Neill.

"You're _sick_."

"I'm _fine_."

"No, you're not."

He scowled.

"Come on…"

He was _wheedling_! Janet had never seen him do it before, and it was absolutely adorable – even to her, and she'd seen a _lot_ of wheedling in her time. His dark eyes had gone into sad puppy mode – another thing she'd never seen him do (and neither had Sam or anyone else at the SGC) and it was _just_ as adorable. And she almost gave in and told him he could get up without even realizing it.

She caught herself just in time, although she couldn't help but grin at the fact that she'd almost been snookered into it – and with a pair of pretty eyes no less! Boy was she losing her touch.

"No. Maybe later today, if you keep the fever down."

"But I wanted to go to the Commissary and actually eat breakfast there…"

"I'll have something brought to you."

He grumbled, and lost the cute puppy eyes – which was really too bad. Janet wished she'd had a camera to take a picture of them just then.

"It's not the same."

"It's all you get."

"Fine."

Now he was pouting. Which was almost as cute, Janet decided – although she wished he'd go back to the puppy eyes thing again. She pulled his blankets up – again – and gave him her best Doctor Smile.

"I'll come and check on you later."

He made a displeased noise in his throat, but then remembered that he was trying to keep the peace with her, and instead simply sighed and looked around the room.

"I'll be here."

"You'd _better_ be."

Bah.

OOOOOOOOOO

George Hammond didn't often go to Jack O'Neill's office. When he wanted to talk to O'Neill, usually he sent for him. Not because Hammond liked pulling rank – which he did – but because he knew that Jack wasn't usually as busy as he was, and was always willing to be pulled away from whatever he was supposed to be working on. (And he had 5 overdue mission reports and 3 completely ignored supply request forms to prove that point. This morning, though, he'd been walking past the office and decided to pay a quick visit, and knocked on the door lightly, entering when he heard Jack call for him to.

"Good morning, Colonel."

Jack was sitting at his desk – a good sign that maybe he was getting some paperwork done – but then Hammond realized he was holding a pistol in his hand and was rubbing it with an oiling cloth. Jack set both down when he realized who was at the door, and started to stand up, but Hammond waved him back into his seat and came over and sat down on the edge of the desk, rubbing Jaffer's ears when the black lab came over to say hi, but looking at the gun.

"Is that Cadet Brooks' Glock?"

Jack nodded, and handed the weapon over to Hammond, who made sure the safety was on before he examined it.

"It's a fine weapon, Sir," Jack said. "If it'd belonged to anyone else, I'd be tempted to keep it for myself and not give it back."

"Which is why you spent the last two days slogging in the mud looking for it?"

Jack shrugged.

"It was that or watch Daniel studying his rocks."

Uh huh. Hammond didn't buy that.

"Have you been to see him, yet?"

Jack shook his head. He hadn't. He'd checked with Fraiser constantly to make sure he was getting better – and had talked to her only an hour before when she'd told him that he'd relapsed and was sick again – still – but he hadn't actually gone into Ian's room and spoken with him. He just wasn't sure what to say or how to say it and was stalling.

"No, Sir."

"I'm not transferring him out of the SGC or off SG-1, so you'd better have that talk with him, Colonel - and soon."

Hammond said it casually, but there was no doubt that it was an order. Of course, Sam had pretty much given him the same order – a little more forcibly – just that morning, so Jack nodded.

"Yes, Sir."

"Good." Hammond handed the Glock back to O'Neill, and gave Jaffer's ears a final rub. "Since Doctor Jackson doesn't need to go back to those ruins, and you don't need to go looking for that gun, SG-1 is staying on base today. Why don't you try and get some paperwork done?"

"Yes, Sir."

Jack scowled, but not until Hammond had left the room, and he looked back at the gun, and then at his IN box, which was overflowing. Then he picked up the oiling cloth and started rubbing the already highly polished black surface of the weapon. There was a little more dirt on it somewhere, and he couldn't let a beauty like this get rusted out, right? Even if it meant his paperwork had to wait a little longer.

Sometimes you just had to make sacrifices…


	45. 45

He managed to do what she said for the entire morning. He stayed in bed, with a minimal amount of complaining – although every time she came in he told her he felt fine and could probably get up for a little while. He was bored, and heartily sick of being in bed, now that he was awake, and he wanted to move around a little. He felt better, he told her, and when she took his temperature, she had to admit that he was back into acceptable ranges.

He wheedled, and pouted and Janet was pretty much immune to that, but then he turned on the charm, and she wasn't prepared for it – even after almost giving in to it earlier that morning. Ian wasn't one to turn on the charm all that often, after all, and Janet had never seen him at his best.

The sad puppy eyes were joined with some of the best cajoling she'd ever been subjected to – even better than Jack O'Neill at his finest – and Janet Fraiser finally gave in, completely unable to help herself. But with restrictions, because not even the saddest puppy eyes were going to wear her down and make her endanger a patient.

"Just down the hall and back," she told him as she watched him throw the blankets back and get up. He was a little wobbly, but she knew part of that wasn't weakness, but was just because he'd been off his feet for so long so she waited a few moments to see if his balance steadied – which it did. "I mean it."

He nodded.

"Ten minutes, Ian," she told him, trying to figure how in the world he'd convinced her to let him out of bed half a day before she'd really intended to. "I want you here before your lunch arrives."

"Yes, Ma'am."

He was willing to concede to that, since he was getting his way, more or less.

She didn't look convinced, but she moved to the side as he walked to the door of the little room and out into the main infirmary, and then followed him, watching him carefully for any sign that he wasn't quite as healthy as he was pretending to be. He was a bit unsteady, but he didn't have any near falls or slips, so she didn't follow him when he went to the door and into the corridor.

OOOOOOOO

He didn't walk fast – there was no way – but he was feeling better for being on his feet, even though his legs were tired almost immediately and he was no where near the end of the hall. But he didn't care. He wasn't in any hurry, after all.

He was almost to the first intersecting corridor when Jaffer came around it, the black lab trotting cheerfully in the middle of the hallway. He stopped for a moment when he saw Ian, his ears coming up and his tail wagging idly, and then charged down the corridor towards the cadet at what he could only consider a gallop. For a moment Ian worried that Jaffer was just going to run him right over – he seemed to be gathering speed as he neared, not losing it – but he was sure the lab would stop before he reached him.

Sure enough, a few feet from him, Jaffer put on the brakes suddenly. But he didn't stop. He slid right into Ian, crashing into him hard. Jaffer was 120 pounds of solid dog, pure muscle, even though he ate pretty much anything given to him. Ian was 170 pounds – when he was soaking wet – and wasn't at all steady on his feet just then. It was a given that he wasn't going to be able to stand up to the assault, and he didn't. The lab crashed into him and Ian went backwards, tumbling to floor in a rolling heap.

Immediately, Jaffer was on him, licking him and whuffling him excitedly, acting as if he hadn't seen him in months instead of just the day before. And Ian was so stunned by being tossed around that he couldn't even get a hand up to ward him off.

"Down, little man."

A moment later, Jaffer was moving out of the way and a strong hand had taken hold of Ian's arm and was pulling him up to his feet. He had recognized Jack's voice, of course, so it wasn't a big shock to see him standing there, but Ian wasn't sure what to say.

"Are you okay?"

Ian nodded.

"Yeah."

The two of them stood there, staring at each other warily, both of them feeling the pang of their sudden estrangement but neither sure what to say. Jack, though, knew the whole thing was his fault – he'd started it, anyways – so he was the one who had to try and fix it. He just hadn't figured out what he was going to say to make everything better.

"Does Fraiser know you're out of bed?"

Ian nodded.

"Did she release you?"

He shook his head.

Jack fell silent again, and the tension between them grew uncomfortable. And still they didn't know what to say. Finally, though, Jack spoke again.

"We need to talk."

Ian scowled, feeling a surge of annoyance. Sure, everyone wanted to talk to him now. Too bad they hadn't wanted to listen before… of course, he hadn't had anything to say, but that was beside the point, right?

"I can't talk right now, Colonel. Doctor Fraiser expects me back in the infirmary in a few minutes…"

Jack scowled.

"She won't mind. Come to my office and-"

"No."

O'Neill felt his own surge of annoyance, now. Goddamn it, he was a Colonel for crying out loud, and angry or not, the boy had been told to come with him.

"Cadet, I want you to come to-"

"No. I told Doctor Fraiser I'd be right back, _Colonel_, and I-"

"Damn it, I don't care what you told her, _Cadet_. You'll do as you're told and-"

"Go fu-"

"What's going on here?"

They both turned and saw Sam standing in the hallway, looking incredibly angry with both of them as she looked at them, her hands on her hips and her eyes going from one to the other. Jaffer came over to stand beside her, looking at the two of them, too, as if to tell Sam that he'd tried to make them talk, but they weren't listening to him.

"He won't-"

"I _told_ him I-"

"Stop it. _Both_ of you."

They both fell silent.

"Come with me."

She turned and headed down the hall, and Jack looked at her retreating back and then at Ian.

"Thanks a lot, _Cadet_. Now she's-"

"It's your fault, _Colonel_," Ian told him, scowling. "I didn't tell you-"

"Jack. Ian."

Her voice interrupted both of them – again – and they fell silent. Again. And followed her.

OOOOOOOOO

Furious with the both of them, Sam led them to Jack's office, opening the door and waiting with Jaffer beside her for the two of them to file in. Then she closed the door and crossed over to Jack's desk, opening a drawer and pulling out a dark marking pen. She went over to Jack.

"Give me your hand."

"Sam…"

"Now."

Jack reluctantly put out his right hand, and Sam took it, and wrote in large letters on his palm.

_IAN_.

Jack scowled.

Ian couldn't help but smile. Until she turned on him, too.

"Hand."

He frowned.

"But…"

She held out her hand, and Ian sighed and gave him her palm. Sure enough a moment later, in big black letters was the name _JACK_.

"You two are smart enough to remember simple names," Sam told them both, putting the cap back on the pen and slipping it into her pocket. "And you're both smart enough to know that this animosity between you is stupid and completely out of order. Fix it. _Now_. And don't come out of here until you have."

"But Doctor Fraiser is-"

"I'll go talk to Janet right now," Sam interrupted, giving Ian a look that told him she wasn't going to put up with any arguments from him. A look she gave Jack an instant later.

"I _mean_ it. Fix it. I'm too pregnant and hormonal to put up with this crap any longer, and I'm not going to."

Without another word she turned and left the office, taking Jaffer with her and closing the door firmly behind her.


	46. 46

They both stared at the door for several long moments, and then Jack turned to Ian.

"Great. Thanks a _lot_."

Ian scowled.

"I didn't do anything. I was minding my own fucking business, just walking down the-"

"Watch your _goddamned_ language."

Ian gave Jack a dark look, but didn't say anything and Jack went over and sat down on the edge of his desk.

"You know, this is all _your_ fault."

"All _my_ fault?"

"Yeah. If you'd have just _told_ me what had happened with you and Cassie, none of this ever would have-"

"Would _you_ have said anything?" Ian countered, interrupting. "If it was you – and say, Sam?"

"Of course I would…" Jack trailed off, because it was an utter lie what he was going to say next, and he knew better, and even more; Ian knew better, too. "No, of course not."

Ian made a _there you go_ gesture with his hand – the one that had Jack's name written on the palm.

"You could have told me you _couldn't_ say," Jack said, darkly. "Instead of clamming up like that and pissing me off."

"You would have kept pressing."

"No, I-" Yes, he would have, and he knew that, too. "You could have…" he shrugged. "I don't know… done _something_ to let me know what was going on…"

Ian shrugged, too.

"You didn't give me a lot of chances to say anything… you were too busy accusing me to-"

"I know." Jack interrupted. Then he sighed. "Sit down, Ian…"

He looked pretty unsteady, even though it was obvious he hadn't hurt himself being rolled over by Jaffer.

Ian almost looked like he was going to tell Jack what to do with himself, but he didn't. He sank down on the sofa, grateful to be off his feet. Fraiser had been right; he wasn't ready for extended walking – and the forced march to Jack's office had worn him out quickly.

Jack looked a little surprised that he'd obeyed, but he covered it quickly, and looked at Ian for a long moment.

"Look. What I said… I was out of line, and it was uncalled for – all of it. I'm sorry."

"And you'll never do it again…?"

Jack scowled, but it wasn't quite as genuine as earlier versions.

"I didn't say _that_. But I should have given you more credit than I did. You're a good guy, and I knew that – I just went ballistic, and didn't wait for explanations."

That might not have been enough of an answer for Ian if not for Sam telling him about Cassie and giving him an explanation for the way Jack and Janet had overreacted. But he understood now why they'd been so protective, and honestly, he almost definitely would have done the exact same thing Jack had – and probably worse.

He shrugged.

"I probably would have done the same thing…"

While Jack knew that was true, he was a little surprised to hear Ian actually admit it – and decided that was Ian's way of telling him things weren't quite so bad as they had been. And he felt better because of it – immediately.

He leaned back over his desk, and opened the top drawer, pulling out the pistol that he'd been cleaning that morning.

"Here. I've got something for you."

With that statement, he tossed the Glock over to Ian. It wasn't loaded, so he wasn't worried about it discharging.

Ian caught the gun automatically, noticing immediately that it was lighter than normal, and seeing that there was no clip. Which meant it wasn't loaded, and he didn't have to worry about shooting himself when he'd caught it. Of course he didn't. He knew Jack knew better than to throw a loaded gun at him.

Then he realized that it wasn't just a replacement gun as he'd first thought it was – which would have been nice of Jack. It was _his_ Glock. The black gun was oiled and cleaned and well polished, and on the grip he could see his initials – just where his father had had them stamped before sending it to him. _IMB_. He smiled, feeling slightly gooey inside, and looked up at Jack.

"Where did-"

Jack shrugged.

"We went back and looked for it. It's way too nice a gun to be stuck in the mud until it rusted out."

"Thanks, Jack…"

He worked the action of the barrel, and it slid smoothly. As good as ever, and no worse the wear for having been stuck out in the elements – which of course, didn't surprise him, considering the quality of the weapon.

"You're going to need it," Jack told him. "Since there's no way I'm training anyone new to join SG-1."

Ian smiled, feeling better than he had in days. He nodded. Which made Jack smile, too.

OOOOOOOO

Sam met Janet in the hall. The doctor was walking down the corridor she'd found Jack and Ian yelling at each other in, and there was a thunderous expression of annoyance on her face.

"Have you seen Ian?"

Sam nodded.

"I-"

"I'm going to _kill_ him. I told him he could walk to the end of the hall and back – do _you_ see him in this hall? I'm going to –"

"He's in Jack's office."

She scowled.

"I didn't tell-"

"With Jack."

Janet paused; her expression suddenly not quite so angry as it was worried.

"I need him in one piece, Sam…"

"He's fine, Janet."

She hoped.

"I told them they needed to get their act together and make up – or else."

"Or else _what_?"

She shrugged, smiling.

"I haven't actually thought that far ahead. If Angry Pregnant Woman doesn't work, I'll try Crying Pregnant Woman next… neither of them can stand up to that, I'm sure…"

Janet smiled, shaking her head in mixed disbelief and admiration.

"You're devious…"

Sam nodded, not at all ashamed to admit it.

"Whatever works. Let's go get some lunch, and then we'll go see what's left of Jack's office."


	47. 47

_Author's note: In answer to a comment in a review, the thing between Ian and Jack isn't the same as what it would be for most people. They're good friends who hurt each other – Jack more than Ian – and just didn't know how to make up. Which was, of course, where Sam came in as the catalyst to force them into it. Everything's not roses, because there's still going to be some lingering doubt, but there was never the desire to deck each other – more or less._

OOOOOOOOO

Jack looked at Ian, noticing for the first time just how pale he looked. And with Ian's complexion, when he was pale, he looked terrible. His dark eyes and dark hair just added to the pallor of his face.

"You okay?"

He nodded, and leaned back slightly against the back of the couch. There were extra cushions on it now, because Sam used it for napping occasionally, and Ian was taking advantage of that fact.

"Tired and hungry..."

"You should have let someone know you were getting sick, Ian. It's-"

"I thought it was just a cold, Jack… and the stress from everything going on…"

Jack nodded. But he still felt guilty, because he'd never have missed just how shitty Ian had been looking if he'd actually been doing his job and been commanding officer instead of inquisitor. Daniel had noticed, but Jack had ignored him, too. He wouldn't make that mistake again. At least he'd try not to.

"We should get you back to the infirmary."

"With a quick stop to get something to eat…?"

Jack shrugged.

"If you're up to it…?"

"Yeah."

He was hungry. He'd make himself up to it.

Jack came over and took his gun from him.

"I'll put this in my desk until you're ready for it," he told the cadet. "After that last time with the guns in her infirmary, Fraiser probably wouldn't appreciate you bringing any weapon in there."

"Hey, _I_ didn't shoot her," Ian protested, giving Jack his Glock. "It was Hayden."

"You were the _accomplice_."

"Yeah… well…"

There really wasn't all that much he could say about that.

Jack put his Glock back into the desk and gave Ian his hand to pull him to his feet – he looked like he could use the hand. Considering how much support he accepted, Jack knew he was right, and he held onto him for just a moment longer once he got him to his feet, just to make sure he was steady.

"You sure you want to make the detour to get something to eat? We could have something brought to you."

Ian scowled. He didn't really enjoy having people waiting on him – and he wanted to pick what he ate, which he couldn't do if someone else was getting his food for him.

"I'm fine, Jack. Thanks."

It felt good to have Jack actually seem to care, although normally he would have felt the Colonel was nagging and that might have been annoying after a bit.

Jack nodded, and the two of them headed for the door.

OOOOOOOOO

"Well, shit…"

Jack followed Ian's gaze as they entered the commissary and saw what the cadet had seen the moment he'd walked into the room. Sitting at a table in the corner were Sam and Janet. Jack stepped between them, to block Janet's view of Ian.

"Let's get out of here before she-"

Too late. Even across the room, Janet's piercing gaze pinned Ian to a stop. She frowned, and stood up, moving over towards the door where Ian and Jack were standing frozen. Sam stood up and followed her, with Jaffer right behind her, but her expression was more questioning, and Jack knew she was more interested in what the two of them were doing out of his office.

"Cadet Brooks…"

Ian scowled, immediately defensive, even though he was definitely not where he was supposed to be.

"Doctor Fraiser…"

"Fancy meeting you here…"

"Um… yeah…"

"We were just on our way to the infirmary, Doc," Jack told her, giving her an innocent smile. "We just… wanted to come by and make sure that you were getting a balanced lunch. So, _are_ you?"

Janet ignored him, her eyes on Ian.

"Up the hall and back…" She reminded him.

Now that just wasn't fair, Ian thought to himself, looking over at Sam for help. It was her fault, after all, that he wasn't in the hallway he was supposed to be in.

Sam smiled, knowing exactly what he was thinking, and more glad to see Jack trying to help Ian get out of trouble – which told her that while things between him and Ian might not be perfectly fixed, they were on their way to being mended.

"Don't listen to her, Ian. She knows you where you were."

"But I didn't give him permission to come here – and I know you didn't tell him to, either," Janet said to Sam, although she had lost her annoyed look, much to Ian's relief.

"Look how weak he is, Doc," Jack said. "He needs to eat…"

"Then get it to go." Janet told Jack and Ian both. "And then straight back to the infirmary. Don't stop anywhere – or for anything."

"Yes, Ma'am." Jack gave Janet a sketchy salute and hustled Ian past her towards the counter – with Jaffer right behind them, since he knew where the food was, and Janet turned to Sam.

"It looks like they're going to be okay…"

Sam nodded, watching as Jack started heaping food onto a tray for Ian – and probably Jaffer as well – and nodded.

"They just needed a shove in the right direction."

"With those two, I'm surprised you didn't need to use a two by four."

Sam smiled, and they walked back to their table.

"Me too."


	48. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

"If you eat another piece of birthday cake, _I'm_ going to throw up…"

Ian shook his head, smiling at Cassie, who was sitting across the table next to Sam.

"I'm finished. If I eat another piece, I'm going to _blow_ up."

It was Saturday, the 2nd day of March, and SG-1 had gathered at the Fraiser's with Emmett Bregman, Sally Langfordand a few others to celebrate Cassie's 18th birthday with cake and ice cream – even though she'd objected, telling them all she was too old for cake and ice cream. Right up until Ian had complained that it wasn't going to be much of a party if _he_ couldn't have ice cream and cake – and Cassie had given in.

The cake had been chocolate – much to Jaffer's annoyance – and the ice cream had been vanilla, and there was a pile of opened presents and wrapping paper on the table. Cassie's objections about being too old for ice cream and cake definitely didn't extend to getting presents, much to the amusement of those who loved her most.

The weather had been great and Jack and Bregman had pulled out Janet's old barbeque and fired it up, cooking on the patio even though there was still a definite chill to the air.

Ian had arrived late – right after Daniel – who was still shaking his head over the final translations they'd made on the low-slung buildings that they'd found on Ian's first mission. It had turned out that the symbol Daniel had thought was snake, had actually been lizard or something similar to that and almost two weeks of researching the ruins had turned up a simple legend of a swamp lizard of some sort that kept returning to the place of its alleged birth where the land was supposed to be holy or sacred – and the water there was supposed to be a fountain of youth type thing. Which had turned out to be a load of crap – much to Jack's amusement and Daniel's annoyance.

"Ian? You want another soda?"

Ian shook his head.

"Thanks, Doctor Fraiser, but no."

He couldn't bring himself to call her Janet – which was probably just as well while he was still assigned to the SGC – but they were a little more relaxed around each other now. Mainly because in the last two weeks Ian had been to her house several times – mostly on the pretense of helping Cassie with her homework – and every time he'd been there, he'd been nothing but polite and helpful, until even Janet had to admit that maybe he wasn't the punk kid she'd assumed he was.

"Cass?"

"No, thanks, mom."

Jack came over standing behind Sam's chair and wrapping his arms around her.

"You about ready to go?"

She looked up at him and nodded.

"You've had all the cake you want?"

"Cassie said _we_ get the leftovers."

Sam shook her head, amused, but she was ready to call it a day, too. Even though it was only late afternoon.

"I'm ready."

Jack and Sam were the first to leave, but the others weren't far behind. Everyone had filled up on good food and better company, but they all had other things they needed to do that day and said their goodbyes, wishing Cassie a happy birthday before they left.

As the door closed behind Daniel and Sally, Cassie smiled at Ian, who was still seated at the table watching her.

"Are you ready?"

Ian nodded, looking over at Fraiser, who was sitting on the couch with Emmett, not really cuddling, but not far from it.

"Do you want us to help you clean up?"

"I _have_ help," she told him, shooing them both away. Ian had mentioned wanting to take Cassie out for her birthday – Janet assumed dinner and a movie or something. "Have fun."

It was a measure of her acceptance that Cassie was an adult that she didn't tell her she had to be home by a certain time – although adult or not, she still had curfew on _school_ nights – and Ian and Cassie headed for the door.

OOOOOOOOO

"So… you have a choice…"

Cassie looked over at Ian as he started the car.

"A choice?"

"We can go _out_ to eat, or we can eat at my place."

"Are you _cooking_?"

"If you want soup and sandwiches."

She smiled.

"Sounds great."

"We can even put in a movie."

"Oooo… it must be my _birthday_ or something…"

Ian smiled.

"Smart ass."

Of course, he'd never offered to cook for her before, since he was a terrible cook, so it _was_ something of a special occasion. She laughed, and put her hand on his leg – without any hesitation, now. They'd spent enough time together, now, that Cassie was far more comfortable with him than before, and she knew he actually enjoyed having her touch him like that. She knew a lot of things about him, now. Things that she knew not everyone else did. They'd talked a lot, and she was getting to know him better and better and the more she learned about him, the more she liked about him. He had lots of rough edges, but who didn't?

"Chicken soup?"

"If you want."

"Sounds good."

OOOOOOOOOO

"I don't have any chicken soup."

"So much for it being my birthday…"

"I could go get some…"

She knew he would, too, and that made her smile. Cassie walked into the kitchen where Ian had been rummaging through his cupboards, and came up behind him, looking over his shoulder.

"We could have macaroni and cheese."

He turned to look at her – and as close as they were at that moment, it put his face wonderfully near hers.

"That's not much of a birthday meal…"

And soup _was_?

Cassie shrugged.

"But I like it."

"If that's what you want."

It _was_ her birthday, after all.

"So I can have _whatever_ I want?" She asked him, smiling.

"It's your birthday."

"Kiss me."

Oh, yeah, like he had to be _told_ to do that? Ian grinned and turned completely so he was facing her, and then pulled her closer.

"I think I can do that…"

He kissed her gently, at first, but the kiss deepened when Cassie brought her arms around him as well, melting against him. A moment later, he had to pull back, because there was no hiding his reaction to _that_. Not when she was that close to him. Cassie smiled, her eyes on his. There was no hesitation in her unwavering gaze, only a hint of anticipation, and she pressed lightly up against him again.

"You _said_ I could have whatever I want…"

Ian smiled, softly.

"Are you sure…?"

She nodded.

He shook his head, wondering for the millionth time what it was she saw in him, and kissed her again. A hungry kiss that made it quite clear to her that she wasn't alone in her desires. They broke apart only when they absolutely had to to breathe, and Ian took her hand and led her out of the kitchen.

"Crazy woman…"

**The End**

_So! That's the end of this story. You can decide for yourself what happened after that. Let me know what you think. Favorite line, favorite scene, all the usual stuff. Things will probably start getting more serious, now, in the stories – not necessarily angsty, but like Alexander says… 'things are coming to a head', and it's time we get there… Let me know if there's anything in particular you want to see on the way there, though._


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